Ottawa Central Station, formerly known as Ottawa Bus Central Station (Station Centrale), is the primary inter-city bus terminus in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada's national capital city. It used to have the same management as Montreal's major bus terminal, Gare d'autocars de Montréal before the latter was purchased by the Quebec government. On February 7, 2011, the terminal operations were sold to Corporate Customer Service Limited, a sub-contractor of Greyhound Canada. Corporate Customer Service formed a new company, Ottawa Central Station Inc., to manage the terminal. On September 1, 2011, Corporate Customer Service Ltd. handed over the head lease to Greyhound, who in turn negotiated and signed a long-term lease with the property's owner. Ottawa Central Station Inc. and Corporate Customer Service Ltd. remain as an agency within a Greyhound terminal. The building and the lot is owned by Crerar Silverside Corporation. The station is located at 265 Catherine Street, between Kent Street and Lyon Street, just north of Highway 417, the primary expressway through Ottawa.
The Cisco Systems Bluesfest, Ideal Control Systems and First Student offices are located on the second level of the terminal.
The majority of buses serving the station are operated by Greyhound Canada. Destinations from Ottawa include Toronto (with connections to the United States), Montreal (with connections to the United States, Quebec City and the Maritimes), Syracuse (with connections to New York City and Philadelphia), and Sudbury (with connections to the Prairies, British Columbia and Northern Canada).
Investigation Services Ltd. operates as the station's main security. The ATM in the terminal is provided by Laurentian Bank. The new operators of the station now provide free Wi-Fi to customers.
The station's operating hours are daily from 5:00 am to 2:30 am. The parcel department's hours are Monday to Friday 7:00 am to 8:00 pm, Saturday 8:00 am to 5:00 pm and Sunday/holidays 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
On December 15, 2008, new security measures by Greyhound came into place. All passengers must undergo random screening prior to boarding the bus, which includes the use of wand metal detectors and searching carry-on items. These measures are performed by the security firm Garda. Any passenger refusing to be searched is not permitted to travel.
Read more about Ottawa Central Station: Main Destinations, Proposed Relocation
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