Virtuous examples
Photo: Radio-Canada / Vincent Rességuier
In Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, citizen mobilization has borne fruit, says Gaétan Boulet, a former city employee for 38 years in the culture and leisure department.
Here, the train still passes the old station, but it hasn’t stopped for a long time. The proud building is nevertheless in very good condition.
When Canadian National abandoned its rail link in 1988, a petition circulated to force elected officials to keep the station. 6000 signatures were collected.
After negotiations, CN sold its building for a symbolic $1. The station was then moved a few hundred meters in 1991 before being renovated for less than $400,000. At the time, the municipality took it upon itself to finance the project by taking out loans.
000people per year, specifies Mr. Boulet; I think the population is very proud of it and uses it very regularly.”,”text”:”It is today a community center which welcomes 12,000 people per year, specifies Mr. Boulet; I think the population is very proud of it and uses it very regularly.”}}”>Today it is a community center which welcomes 12,000 people per year, specifies Mr. Boulet; I think the population is very proud of it and uses it very regularly.
In the 1980s and 1990s, passenger rail experienced a significant decline. Since then, several cities have taken the lead and undertaken the exercise of finding a new vocation for their old stations, which have become, in turn, community spaces, tourist offices or businesses. This is the case for stations in Hudson, Granby, Rivière-Rouge, Joliette or Lachute, whose plan is identical to the CP station in Shawinigan.
A few examples among others and, according to historian Claude Martel, one of the most remarkable remains that of Lyster, in Center-du-Québec.
The small municipality has limited resources, but that did not prevent it from taking charge of the renovations. The old station now hosts a stopover café on the cycle path which follows the route of the defunct railway line. A configuration that is also found in different regions. For example, the P’tit train du Nord, a cycle route on which you can admire the charming renovated Piedmont station.
This is also the case in Granby, where the former CN facilities have been transformed into businesses and a tourist office. Cyclists can take the railway route which partly runs along the Yamaska River.
