Central Station was designed by John Schofield, architect-in-chief of CNR. Construction started in 1926, but was halted in 1930 as a result of the Great Depression. Construction resumed in 1939, the economy having improved. The new station finally opened on July 14, 1943, as the first of a series of large-scale urban redevelopment projects undertaken by CNR and the federal government in Downtown Montreal. But the Central Station that came out was a more modest structure with 20 tracks, 16 of which had platforms.