As impressive as the new light rail in Montreal is, in terms of project time, we shouldn't overplay this. It might only be 9 years from the announcement of the current iteration, but the planning for the 5 stations south of Central started about 20 years ago. Construction on the most significant, most expensive piece of new alignment (from Nun's Island to Brossard) started in 2015 - even though the technology and route hadn't been finalized - the design was done even earlier.
The core of the rest of the line is the 12-station all-day two-way Deux-Montagnes commuter line that opened and was electrified over 100 years ago! What's new are three additional stations between Central and Bois Franc (though the most expensive, the deep one on Vincent d'Indy, was originally planned to be opened in the 1980s when the adjoining Metro station opened). Note though, that the conversion of this piece of line to a frequent metro-like service was not first announced 9 years ago, but about 60 years ago, as a
steel-wheeled Line 3 of the metro.
The 4-station spur to Morgan and the 3-station spur to Trudeau International are new - other than reusing some old freight track for part of it. The whole thing is probably best compared to something like London Overground than subway.
Part of this is the infrequent off-peak service for the 12 stations on branches (compared to the 14 stations on the central and south shore pieces). It's a bit of a mix really - one could easily argue that the 14-station section from Bois Franc to the south shore with 5-minute off-peak service (better than the metro!) is a metro line. From there, the 3 northern branches only provide infrequent (15-minute) off-peak service, similar to GO RER.
So if this new 67-km, 26-station network , much of it with only RER-like service is building faster, what about the GO Lakeshore, which now has 15-minute mid-day service from Oakville to Oshawa (86-km), and is expanding to evenings and weekends. Not to mention plans to do similar on parts of 4 other GO lines (Milton, Kitchener, Barrie, Stouffville)?
Meanwhile, Montreal still waits for Metro extensions announced over 40 years ago, while the GTA currently seven new lines or extensions under way (or about to be underway with the Yonge extension and the Ontario Line), with five more currently being planned and hopefully announced during the next few years (Line 4 east extension to Sheppard/McCowan, Line 5 east extension to Sheppard, Sheppard LRT from Sheppard/McCowan to Line 5, and the Line 5 extension from Renforth to Pearson, Hurontario LRT from Steeles to Brampton). After that they are talking about Line 6 extensions in both directions, and a Jane LRT. Not to mention a myriad of lesser projects ($1 billion range), like the new platform at Yonge/Bloor, the much bigger streetcar station at Union, the new Waterfront West and Waterfront East LRT services, the additional platforms for both lines at St. George station, and with extensive works at many stations to add more platform width, mezzanines, and exits.
And then there's the dozens of other projects (BRT, some LRT, GO extensions and new ilnes) outlined in the Regional Transportation Plan.
Sure, Montreal is building faster now than it used to. So is Toronto. Look at the speed of Line 6, when you take away the extensive deep tunnelled sections, and simply go with some cut-and-cover terminals. Construction will be significantly less than the REM when it opens.
And look at Crosstown itself. We've all seen how little time it took to complete the at-surface section in Scarborough - almost 1/3 of the entire route!
