Well you could make the same arguments about the lack of novelty of a proposal to build the relief line.
I don't think anyone is pretending there is any novelty in Toronto's proposed relief line. A point that was clearly, repeatedly, and frustratingly made from the audience to the organizers at the public meeting I attended. Phase 1 of Toronto relief line is little changed since when I was born in the 1960s. It was imminent when I was living in Toronto in university in the 1980s. I work near Parliament and King - however I'll have retired by the time it opens, according to the current timeframe (if they deliver it on time!).
Well, the Red line project only ended at Deux-Montagnes and later became the Deux-Montagnes commuter rail line
The Deux-Montagnes commuter train long-predates the Line 3 project. I last took that line back in 1986 - and at that point there were still locomotives on the line that had been built for the line starting in 1914! Fortunately the passenger cars were a few decades newer. When service restarted recentlyafter the 1992-1995 rebuild, the timetable didn't seem much more frequent than it was in the 1980s (although it was certainly a bit faster!).
This project not only goes to Deux-Montagne, but to Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, the Airport and the South Shore, so it's a new idea. It's not like the Red line was still in the books...
I'm pretty sure I heard some plan back in the 1980s to build a spur along the Trans-Canada. I seem to recall some west island upsetness at the thought of losing the more conveniently located CP stations.
As for completion, it will certainly be completed by the end of 2020.
All 4 branches certainly completed by end of 2020?
Which year was it we were promised that Line 4 would be completely built from Montreal-Nord (metro Amos) to Lafleur by?
What was the most recent promised delivery date of the Pointe-Aux-Trembles LRT?
How many times has the Blue line Pie-IX station been promised - sometimes as part of a 1-station extension?
Forgive my skepticism. You know what they say - 35 times bitten, 36th time shy.
I certainly hope that for once a Quebec promise is real! But the track record has been pretty poor since Drapeau left office.
Edit ... LOL, just saw this. An earlier plan to build a passenger spur off the Deux-Montagnes line to West Island - in 1927!