Hey guys, welcome back to the channel!
Today we are going to be talking about the future of rapid transit in Montreal. We made
a similar video over a year ago and since our production quality and insights have improved
we thought it was time for a remake! We should also note that finally Montreal’s transit
plans meet the scope of this important city and we are super excited for what’s in store!
In addition to rapid transit lines, this video is also going to discuss the locations of
the primary railyards in the city’s transit network as well as do an in depth look at
the exciting expansions coming to the regional rail networks! Now, strap in, and we’ll get started!
[Intro]
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keep yourself and your community safe. Alright, time to get back to the main content
of the day.
To start our let’s take a look at the STM’s existing rapid transit lines which form the
Montreal Metro!
First off we have the Orange Line, which is of course Montreal’s primary Metro line.
It connects downtown Montreal to Laval, the boroughs of Saint Michel, Plateau Mont-Royal,
Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and Saint-Laurent along a 31 stop U-shaped route. On another note
the Orange Line is entirely enclosed like the rest of the Montreal Metro, and carries
more riders each day than the rapid transit networks of other Canadian cities such as
Vancouver and Ottawa. Maintenance and Storage for the Orange Line occurs at Youville with
storage tracks at Montmorency and Cote-Vertu.
Second we have the Green Line, which serves an axis largely perpendicular to both Orange
Line segments, acting as Montreal's primary East West Link. The Green Line connects downtown
Montreal to Lasalle, Ville Emard, Verdun, Pointe-Saint-Charles as well as Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve
along a 27 station route. Since we are talking ridership for existing lines the Green line
carries more people every day than the entire BART system in San Francisco. Also we have
to point out that the Montreal Metro’s U-Shaped Orange Line and horizontal Green Line looks
eerily like another transit system, but as they say “imitation is the sincerest form
of flattery”. Maintenance for the Green Line happens at Honoré-Beaugrand with storage
at Angrignon Garage.
Third we have the oh so interesting (and short) Yellow Line. The Yellow Line is quite unique
in our minds as it is less than 5km long with only three stations and yet uses full Metro
rolling stock unlike other short lines on different transit systems. Because of this
and the somewhat low frequencies when compared to the rest of the network the Yellow Line
ends up feeling like the biggest shuttle train ever. Maintenance for this line is done at
shops on either the Orange or Green Lines while storage happens at tail tracks located
adjacent to each terminus.
Finally we have the Blue Line which is a moderately long east-west 12 station 10km line to the
North of Mt. Royal. This is the newest traditional Metro Line in Montreal with opening dates
through the 1980’s. Given its lower ridership the line opened with three car trains and
now operates with six car sets reminiscent of the ⅔ full length trains of Toronto’s
Sheppard Line. The Blue Line connects Côte-des-Neiges, Outremont, and Saint-Michel.
Trains are stored similarly to the Yellow Line in sets of tail tracks at both termini
with maintenance occuring at the Youville shops which are connected to the Blue Line
via a direct Tunnel between De Castelnau and Parc Stations. The Blue Line‘s eastern terminus
of Saint-Michel is also the physically shortest station in the network, having only been built
to accommodate 6-car trains, with a left-over space in the tunnel arriving from D'Iberville
to complete the remaining station in the event of an increase in capacity.
We have to say that we are big fans of the way that Montreal has created three crosstown
rapid transit corridors in a way Toronto can still only dream of by running the Orange
Line East West in Downtown Montreal as well as the Blue Line all the way between the Orange
Line’s Eastern and Western legs.
Before we get into the future of the system we should also mention the extensive network
of Commuter trains currently operated by EXO, which currently consists of six lines.
The Vaudreuil–Hudson line connects Lucien L’Allier Station in Downtown Montreal with
Vaudreuil-Dorion off island, as well as connecting areas such as Dorval, Lachine, and Pointe-Claire
on island, and also the McGill University Health Centre at Vendome where
a Metro Connection is also available. The Vaudreuil-Hudson Line forms the main rail
link to the West Island prior to the opening of the REM and currently has more Metro Connections
than any other EXO Line.
The Saint-Jérôme line connects Lucien L’Allier Station in Downtown Montreal with the Laurentians,
and Laval off island as well as North Central Montreal with a Metro Connection at De La
Concorde, Parc, and Vendome. The Line also features a massive gap between Blainville
and Saint Jerome at over 15 km long.
The Candiac line connects Lucien L’Allier Station with Lachine and LaSalle on Island,
as well as Delson and Candiac off island. Much like the other lines in the Lucien L’Allier
group, the Candiac Line has a Metro connection at Vendome.
The Mont-Saint-Hilaire line originates from Gare Centrale in Downtown Montreal with connections
to Longueuil, including a station located very close to Saint-Hubert Regional Airport
as well as Saint-Hilaire which contains the namesake Mont-Saint-Hilaire nature park.
The Mascouche line also originates from Gare Centrale in Downtown Montreal, connecting
with Montreal-North destinations including Rivière-des-Prairies and Pointe-aux-Trembles,
as well as Terrebonne, Repentigny, and Mascouche on the North Shore, with a Metro Connection
at Sauvé. The Mascouche Line interestingly has a large guideway, mixed high and low platforms
and a very strange u curve section where it passes under a shed near a munitions facility
making it Canada’s most unique rail line in my personal view.
While it was the only line on the EXO network to be partially electrified as it passed through
the restrictive Mont Royal tunnel this is no longer the case as of late as the tunnel
has been closed for Construction. In the interim some trains on the Mascouche Line will through
run all the way around Mont-Royal to Gare Centrale, in the long term a new convenient
transfer station near the A-40 will allow Mascouche riders to transfer onto Frequent,
Wifi enabled Metro trains on the REM to head into Downtown Montreal.
And finally the now modified and soon to be defunct electrified Deux-Montagnes line terminated
at Gare Centrale in Downtown Montreal with connections to the Town of Mount Royal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville,
Ville Saint-Laurent, Pierrefonds-Roxboro, western Laval, Île Bigras and Deux-Montagnes.
This line will essentially still exist in its entirety as part of the REM project although
with full grade separation, enhanced stations and other brand new amenities many of which
are new to North America.
In terms of Maintenance and Storage a large facility exists in Pointe-Saint-Charles as
well as in Lachine. Deux-Montagnes also has an EMU Maintenance and Storage facility which
will be converted for use by the new REM Network, and we really appreciate this decision as
such a large network should likely have distributed facilities. Of course much like with other
commuter operators, EXO stores trains near the end of lines overnight as well.
As you probably noticed, Montreal unlike Toronto has two downtown rail terminals which we think
is very cool, hence the commuter lines are separated into two groups based on their termini.
Perhaps even more interestingly, Montreal’s primary rail hub Gare-Centrale or Central
Station is also underground and features high platforms, which service VIA intercity rail
as well as commuter services. Contrasting this Lucien L’Allier is a somewhat cramped
above ground station on the Western End of Montreal’s core that unfortunately doesn’t
really feature any platform canopies. That being said Montreal does face a bit of a long
term capacity issue because now both of it’s downtown hubs are deadends, which could create
long term capacity constraints.
It’s also worth noting that interestingly a number of the current commuter lines in
Montreal are the revived descendants of passenger railways which operated in the 1800’s and
that unlike Toronto a fairly decent amount of this network was electrified including
the now de-electrified trackage to the South of Gare Centrale, the infrastructure for which
remains to this day.
Next up we will discuss the major under construction projects in the Montreal region.
First up the Cote Vertu Garage project for the Montreal Metro, which is a major
new underground maintenance and storage facility North of the Cote Vertu Metro terminus on
the Orange Line. The garage is quite unique compared to other projects internationally
as it is being blasted out of the earth. This project will enable more trains for the Orange
Line to serve its ever growing passenger numbers in addition to aiding train deployment on
the Western Branch of the yard.
Next up, we have one of the most exciting projects in the city and in the country. The
REM is a new high capacity regional rail network for the Montreal Region. The line takes the
electrified commuter rail service on the Deux Montagnes Line, and replaces it with a new
high frequency automated Metro Line akin to the Vancouver SkyTrain or Sydney Metro.
Of course part of this network is the newly rebuilt Deux Montagnes Line with new stations
and full double tracking.
Next up we have the new West Island Line, which will head out to Kirkland and other
areas of the West Island, and will be linked with the Deux Montagnes Line at Bois Franc.
This line will be largely elevated along the A-40 Autoroute and will be a nice new high
frequency service to supplement the West Island EXO Line.
The next new line is the Airport Line which will also connect to Bois Franc. The line
will then travel Southwest and enter a tunnel before it arrives at the Marie Curie (Technoparc)
station and Airport stations underground which will be unique for an Air Rail link in Canada.
Finally the REM also includes a new South Shore Line which serves the South Shore of
course as well as some areas South and West of Downtown Montreal, utilizing the new Champlain
Bridge to cross the St. Lawrence as well as the A-10 Autoroute on the South Shore.
We're incredibly excited about the REM, while it does mean giving up the Deux Montagnes
commuter line and its 25KV electrification, the benefits are far beyond anything that
was proposed for the Deux Montagnes Line, including full high platforms, full automation,
high quality fully enclosed stations with platform screen doors and more. Not only does
this give Montreal a new rapid transit network that will provide a similar if not higher
service to the current Metro albeit usually over longer distances, but the REM also gives
Montreal a new starting point for a more extensive regional network by allowing trains to travel
above ground unlike on the existing Metro. This coupled with shorter but still high capacity
trains should make major Metro expansion much more palatable particularly in areas like
Laval. This will give Montreal the enviable position of having a short distance network
in the form of the existing Metro and a long haul network in the REM, akin to the RER and
Metro in Paris, or the U- Bahn and S- Bahn in many German cities.
The REM will feature two primary Maintenance and Storage Facilities, the previously mentioned
converted Deux Montagnes Shops as well as a new OMF located at the Brossard Terminus.
If you're interested in learning more about the REM, check out our recent Demystified video
covering the project in depth, featuring construction photos and renders.
Now, for the rest of this video, we’re going to pass the baton over to someone who’s
got a bit more experience with Montreal, and who can pronounce French names much better
than I ever could. Ben, you’re up!
Hello Viewers! My name‘s Ben, though you might know me from my channel, theNOVABUSfan.
I’ve been making videos about the public transit of Montreal for the better part of
a decade, and couldn’t be more excited about the many expansions planned for our transit
network, whether they are set in stone, or simply proposed. It would be my pleasure to
talk you through some of those projects, not only because I'm a native to the Montreal area,
but also to give Ellen a little relief, with those tricky pronunciations.
Let's get right to it!
Now for this next section we won’t go into too many specific details since the planned
lines across the Greater Montreal Region have unfortunately long been under flux. We think
the current Provincial Governments plans are relatively strong overall and are relatively
optimistic that they will be able to deliver the lines they have proposed, which is a very
positive change from the past, though we would like to see a bit more focus on the core of
the network - the Montreal Metro itself.
The first project I’ll talk about is the Anjou Extension which is a 5 stop eastbound
extension of the Blue Line, following Jean-Talon East, terminating at the Galeries d’Anjou
mall. Other stations planned include Pie-IX, Viau, Lacordaire and Langelier Boulevards,
though final names have yet been chosen. To be fair,
this project is much farther along than the others we will mention, as it has been repeatedly
promised and delayed for years. Fortunately, preparations and land purchases for actual
construction are finally underway with a projected construction start date in 2021,
and hopefully, the opening of the extension by 2026.
Since the plans for the REM were originally presented a connection between the REM station
at Pierre-Elliot Trudeau Airport and the Dorval multimodal station a stone's throw to the
south have been proposed. This would mean a new connection to EXO’s Vaudreuil-Hudson
line and VIA Rail allowing for even more convenient connections to the commuter rail network
and VIA's Quebec-Windsor corridor.
Even though this extensionisn’t formally proposed right now, the support for it has been undeniable:
It makes so much sense that we felt we should include it as we are sure it is bound to happen sooner
than later.
Next up, we have the proposed South Shore tramway project which will operate low floor
light rail trains similar to the Hurontario and ION LRTs in Ontario. This Line is pretty
cool as it will connect the under construction Panama REM station with the existing Longueuil-U-de-S
Metro Station. The line is proposed to travel nearly its entire length around the wide Taschereau
Boulevard which will be redesigned to be more human oriented with improved pedestrian and
cycling elements as well as more greenery and an enhanced public space. This line
could be the first Tramway-style system in Montreal since the 1950s which we find deeply exciting,
something that is only enhanced by the multiple rapid transit connections. Hopefully this is the first
of many new tramways in the region!
As predicted in Reece’s previous REM video the low cost of construction of this new light metro
has already attracted a number of new proposals. The first of which is a
major expansion of the REM network into Laval. This proposal from the Province has a new
REM route crossing Laval along the A-440 Autoroute, with two branches, one continuing West to
Meet up with the initial REM segment at Sainte-Dorothee and another branch turning South off the A-440
to travel South down Boulevard Chomedey to Cote-Vertu to interchange with the orange line of the metro.
Though it is believed that if the extension of the metro to Bois Franc goes through,
this REM extension would also terminate there, creating a rather major connection point
between traditional metro and the expansive new light metro system.
Another smaller but potentially more likely proposed REM extension is on the South Shore
connecting the existing South Shore Line near the Du-Quartier station to a new station at
Chambly, roughly 12km Southeast on the A-10. This extension also feels likely because it’s
proposal actually led the consortium in charge of the initial REM project to slightly modify
the tracks just before Brossard Station, though this does mean that Chambly and Brossard will
be on different branches, which we are totally ok with given that we don’t think there
is likely to be massive amounts of riders heading from Brossard to Chambly and this
does elevate the importance of Du Quartier as the connection point between these branches
which is appropriate given the major development occurring there. If you’ve noticed a lot
of REM routes are following Highway Corridors and we think this is a great thing, taking
corridors previously largely dedicated to cars and adding electric rail transit to the
mix. We also think that all these extensions will go a long way towards making the REM
feel more like its own network and that’s super exciting!
In addition to the REM and Tramway proposals off the island of Montreal there is also a
tramway proposal on the island itself. However, these feel like this is the most susceptible
to future change at the moment, so consider yourself warned.
The proposed line, a crosstown LF-LRT taking cues from the Eglinton Crosstown in Toronto is planned
to link Lachine to as far Northeast as Pointe-aux-Trembles, and potentially further still towards Terrebone.
However, for some portions of this line farther from the downtown core we do expect potential off street
operations which could make this line more like a tram-train. In terms of the proposed
routing it does seem quite likely that much of the route would follow the relatively wide
Rue Notre Dame for much of its length. There is also a proposed branch North from Rue Notre
Dame along the Trans Canada Highway or the A-25 which would connect to the Blue Line
Extension at Anjou and the Green line at Honoré-Beaugrand.
We love that the proposed projects include a lot of branches as this leads to
more connections and interchange opportunities!
Thanks so much to Ben for making a guest appearance and for helping us put this video together!
Check out his channel, and subscribe if you haven’t yet.
In conclusion, when, or if all is said and done, the Greater Montreal Area will have
12 Electrified Rail Services, including 4 Metro lines, 6 REM Services, 2 Tramways, and 5 commuter
rail lines. These numbers excite us immensely and when all of the extensions and expansion
projects mentioned in this video are complete Montreal will undeniably have a world class
transportation network possibly the best in Canada and easily in the same league as the
best networks globally in Europe and Asia! In the meantime though, we’ll be around
to keep you guys updated on the progress, and we’ll definitely be checking out some
of the construction on site, and be there when new projects open.
If you enjoyed this video, like, subscribe, and let us know down in the comments which
project you’re most excited for in the future of rapid transit in Montreal, and which city
we should cover next. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and support us on Patreon or
Ko-fi if you would like to help us keep doing what we do. Thanks for watching, and we’ll
see you in the next one!
[Music]