[WislaHD]

CDPQ Infra proposes new integrated network linking downtown Montréal, South Shore, West Island, North Shore and the airport
http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/cnw/release.html?rkey=20160422C8120&filter=5611

Ambitious Montreal project costing $5.5B for a 67km automated light rail service, with over 67Km being built and pitched all at once for 2021. The Feds already said this project is eligible to the Infrastructure program which "La Caisse" would invest $3B leaving the Feds with the balance.

Two more infographs:

 

[WislaHD]

Where would Montreal's 24 new light rail stations be located?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montr...sse-depot-west-island-airport-train-1.3548339

Here's where the train would stop:

West Island
The rail would connect municipalities along Highway 40 of the West Island.

The first four stations listed below would be newly built.

• Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue
• Kirkland
• Pointe-Claire
• Des Sources

The proposal also includes having two stations located in the borough of Pierrefonds, near Montreal's North Shore.

• Sunnybrooke
• Roxboro-Pierrefonds

Airport route
Intersecting close to Highways 13 and 40, the rail line would give commuters access to Montreal's airport.

• Autoroute 13
• Technoparc Saint-Laurent
• Dorval Airport

Montreal
Stations along the new rail will span across Montreal from the Saint-Laurent borough to Nuns Island.

• Bois-Franc
• Du Ruisseau
• Montpellier
• Mont-Royal
• Correspondence Highway 40
• Canora
• Central Station
• Nuns Island

There is also the possibility of extending the rail to four other stations in Montreal.

• Edouard-Montpetit (University of Montreal)
• McGill
• Bridge-Wellington
• Du Havre

North Shore
The northern section of the rail would have four stops in the municipalities of Île-Bigras, Laval and Deux-Montagnes.

The North Shore is the only portion of the proposed project that would have parking options at all of its stations.

• Île-Bigras
• Ste-Dorothée
• Grand-Moulin
• Deux-Montagnes

South Shore
The light rail will connect to Montreal's South Shore by the Champlain Bridge on Highway 15.

The three stations are located in Brossard:

• Panama
• Du Quartier
• Rive-Sud

There is also a fourth potential station.

• Chevrier

 

[WislaHD]

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hints feds will fund Montreal light rail
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/justin-trudeau-quebec-liberals-speech-1.3560731

Who wants to bet that Bombardier get the car contract?

 

[David Brake]

So what's your take on this? Will it get built? Is it in the right place? How does it fit with the city's existing transit plans?

 

[44 North]

Was trying to do some research on this project and stumbled on this amateur map posted on Reddit. Looks pretty good. As for Montreal's proposal and how it compares with plans in TO, I definitely think this could put us to shame in many ways if built. From what I can tell this is 100% subway/metro. In other words it's not like Transit City-style LRT (which aside from the SRT rebuild wouldn't qualify as a subway/metro); nor does this seem to be like RER/SmartTrack (which is more of a premium service commuter rail upgrade).

from here: https://www.reddit.com/r/montreal/comments/4goxqa/réseau_du_métro_à_le_futur_proche_metro_map_in/
credit to Reddit user AdviceAdam

 

[David Brake]

Great find! What is the difference you are pointing to between an LRT and a subway/metro? Degree of underground-ness?

 

[nfitz]

So what's your take on this? Will it get built? Is it in the right place? How does it fit with the city's existing transit plans?

How is this not yet another rehash of the early 1960s plan for Line 3 - the Red Line - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Line_(Montreal_Metro)

Will it get built? Probably, one day. Is it a new idea? no. Is 60 years to build a line fast? No.

Are they actually going to build it this time? Probably not as fast or as long as they are talking about.

 

[David Brake]

Well you could make the same arguments about the lack of novelty of a proposal to build the relief line. But if it were to be announced and built it would still be a leap forward from the status quo. How different from the Red Line? Well, the airport link for a start?

 

[44 North]

Great find! What is the difference you are pointing to between an LRT and a subway/metro? Degree of underground-ness?

Subway/metro would be 100% grade-separated (from both road and rail), and I guess have the other attributes of public transit (i.e high frequency, low fare, etc). This has nothing to do with whether a line is underground and everything to do with its grade-separatedness. No doubt someone will post an example of a subway line/train using a level crossing from somewhere around the world, but there are bound to be a few minor exceptions.

LRT can be subway/metro. But again only if it (or one of its branches) is grade-separated. Boston's Green Line is an interesting example of a metro-like LRT line. Although it uses a central tunnel similar to the Eglinton Crosstown, the majority of it wouldn't fall into the subway/metro category because it travels in-median and stops at traffic lights for much of its length (similar to the Crosstown). One branch however (the "D" Riverside branch) could be considered a subway since it's fully grade-separated from end to end.

That's at least my take on things. Metrolinx has a glossary of transit terms, and it seems to roughly follow other agencies' definitions.

 

[skahhigh]

How is this not yet another rehash of the early 1960s plan for Line 3 - the Red Line - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Line_(Montreal_Metro)

Will it get built? Probably, one day. Is it a new idea? no. Is 60 years to build a line fast? No.

Are they actually going to build it this time? Probably not as fast or as long as they are talking about.

Well, the Red line project only ended at Deux-Montagnes and later became the Deux-Montagnes commuter rail line (only electrified commuter rail line in Canada, serving 30,000 users a day). 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...

As for completion, it will certainly be completed by the end of 2020. The Caisse wants to export it's transportation funding model to other places, including the United States. This is their first real project. They will make sure the REM is a success because many people in the industry are watching to see if everything is built according to plan, on budget and on time. Construction is set to start next spring. This is made possible by the fact that there is no need for expropriation and that the rails over the St. Lawrence will be included on the new Champlain Bridge. No need to build a dedicated bridge for LRT.

This is really one of the most interesting public transit projects in Canada. It's about time for Montreal...

 

[Cobra]

So what's your take on this?

This is an excellent project that was way overdue. We should be inspired here in Ontario on the financing model that was used to finance this project when we have retirement funds like Teachers around.

Will it get built?

It will get build thanks to la Caisse having experience in these kind of projects and this project is addressing a real need that was unaddressed for decades. It`s totally realistic to say that this line will turn a profit

• Automated (reduced operating costs)
• Using existing infrastructure (Electric Deux-Montagnes line between Gare Central and Deux Montagne with the tunnel under the mountain already there)
• Mostly above ground reducing construction costs (Most expensive stations will be the ones connecting with the 3 subway lines...Gare Centrale/Bonaventure, McGill and Edouard-Montpetit)

Is it in the right place?

Definitely.

• Champlain Bridge was operating over the capacity for years creating congestion downtown Montreal when the buses line up to enter the South Shore bus terminal at Bonaventure.
• The Deux-Montagne electric commuter train is the busiest but unable to take more riders. A subway service with more trains will fix that.
• West Island is shamefully underserved by the STM. Express buses takes the highway while commuter trains aren`t frequent nor fast. This address a crucial need to finally unify the whole Island with rapid transit,m which should definitely have a positive effect on gridlock
• The Airport link will instantly make Montreal a more desirable city thank to this elusive train that will finally get built

How does it fit with the city's existing transit plans?

• Green Line McGill station (Busiest station) will allow riders from south shore to bypass the busy Berri-UQUAM interchange station (comparable to Bloor-Yonge)
• Blue Line Edouard-Montpetit is connected to University of Montreal. This will provide much needed relief to the east section of the Orange Line (comparable to Yonge)
• This will allow travelling the whole Island of Montreal from East to West…literally!!! (Sainte-Anne-De-Bellevue to Honoré-Beaugrand)
• The city will be pretty much covered with rapid transit except for Pie-IX boulevard that they need to address

This is what Smarttrack should have been but that’s Tory`s failure by picking the wrong technology, wrong alignments and interfering with the much needed DRL and to some extend the Scarborough Subway.

 

[nfitz]

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!

 

[Momin]

Front page article on the line!

 

[skahhigh]

More details on the project including the timetable:

 

[skahhigh]

New map released by CDPQ Infra: