Designed by Victor Prus, the station is a normal side platform station, built by cut-and-cover in order to provide a large space for the heavily trafficked mezzanine. As a key part of the underground city, the mezzanine has ticket barriers on either side to allow pedestrians to pass from one end of the station to the other side. Footbridges over the tracks below the mezzanine level allow passengers to cross from one platform to the other. Until 1992, the station had only one outdoor entrance, in front of Windsor Station, and two additional accesses led directly to Place Bonaventure and Montreal Central Station on one end, and the Château Champlain and Place du Canada on the other. When 1000 de La Gauchetière was built directly above the station, additional accesses were added to the office tower and the Downtown Terminus within it as well as a street entrance on the western side of the building on Cathédrale Street and improved access to Central Station and Place Bonaventure. The station is intermodal with the Réseau de transport métropolitain 's commuter train lines through its underground access to Montreal Central Station, the terminus for Deux-Montagnes, Mascouche and Mont-Saint-Hilaire lines. There is also underground access to the Lucien-L'Allier train station and to the Lucien-L'Allier Metro station. Elevators were added between the mezzanine and the platforms in November 2009, making the station more accessible to people with reduced mobility. However, no step-free access to the surface was possible until 2019, when elevators were added connecting the mezzanine level to Terminus Centre-Ville and to the lobby of 1000 De La Gauchetière. The elevators do not allow passengers to change platforms unless they exit the ticket barriers. Another elevator connecting the station to Place du Canada and the Château Champlain, formerly the only elevator in the system, is separated from the mezzanine level by steps. The station is equipped with the MétroVision information screens, which display news, commercials, and the time till the next train.
Origin of the name
This station is named for Place Bonaventure, a major commercial complex containing businesses, the Hôtel Bonaventure, and the Société de transport de Montréal's headquarters. This was named for Bonaventure Station, a former station on the Grand Trunk Railway, which in turn was named for its location on Saint Bonaventure Street, now Saint Jacques Street. All derive their name from St. Bonaventure, a 13th-century Italian philosopher and mystic.
