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APTA-2048

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The famous ascending three note tone, "dou dou dou", which has become synonymous with the Montreal Metro is being used as the new door chime, followed by an announcement. The "dou dou dou" originates from the sound of the acceleration of the MR-73 stock and was likely popularized through the 1976 STCUM commercial il fait beau dans l'metro.

The door chime is being tested on one MR-73 train on the Orange Line and will be installed on all MR-73 stock by 2012.

Full story, door chime sound sample, and explanation of the cause of the "dou dou dou" on the trains here: Dou-dou-dou «Attention, nous fermons les portes…»
 
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da-da-da
 
The NBC chime (which has made a comeback) is older, but is a C-B-D chime. The Montreal Metro MR-73 stock's acceleration has a D-C-B chime, eerily similar to that of first horn notes of Aaron Copeland's "Fanfare to the Common Man".

There is a chime used to warn of closing doors (a flat three-ring alert) but only departing terminal stations, or after long layovers (like the last trains of the night departing Berri-UQAM).

It is nice though to see the distinct acceleration chime used for the closing doors notice alert, and hopefully the replacements for the MR-63s and MR-73s will use this, as the MR-73s won't be around forever.
 
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There is a chime used to warn of closing doors (a flat three-ring alert) but only departing terminal stations, or after long layovers (like the last trains of the night departing Berri-UQAM).

On my recent visit to Montreal I rode the Metro several times and noticed no chimes of any sort. However I did not go through any terminal stations. I noticed that riders in Montreal seem to have a sixth sense for when the doors are about to close, and do not usually seem to charge the doors as we see in Toronto.

... as the MR-73s won't be around forever.
Thank God! It's amazing that they have been around for as long as they have. They are not air conditioned, which must be murder on hot and humid days.

On another point, slightly off topic, the metro is beginning to look a little shabby. It's cleaner than Toronto, based on my brief observations, but there is graffiti in stations and "scratchitti" on a number of the train windows. At one station I went through three or four times (Plamondon), a lot of floor tiles seem to be lifting up and disappearing. The tiles are quite small and I have no idea why they would have been used in the first place.
 
Why does it make that sound when it's accelerating anyway?
From the STM:

The sound is caused by a power converter on the MR-73 rolling stock used on the Orange and Blue lines. To prevent power surges and ensure the train’s smooth departure, it was necessary to cap the power used by traction motors, therefore requiring a power converter. So, the well-known “dou dou dou†was not the work of a famous composer, but rather the sound produced by the converter itself: the three notes are the musical equivalent of the precise frequencies determined by engineers for the converter’s proper operation.

As it turned out, the frequencies composed a pleasant melody that could be heard by passengers. With a few exceptions, there is no power converter on the MR-63 métro railcars used on the Green and Yellow lines, simply because the technology was not available when the older rolling stock was built…

Thank God! It's amazing that they have been around for as long as they have. They are not air conditioned, which must be murder on hot and humid days.

The MR-63 stock is even older. They too are not air conditioned. I didn't find it too unpleasant in the summer. My Montreal friends seem to have gotten used to the lack of air conditioning on the Metro. I found that the best place to stand to really feel the breez from the fans is, unfortunately, in front of the doors. The MR-08 stock replacing the MR-63 stock will not be air conditioned either.
On another point, slightly off topic, the metro is beginning to look a little shabby. It's cleaner than Toronto, based on my brief observations, but there is graffiti in stations and "scratchitti" on a number of the train windows. At one station I went through three or four times (Plamondon), a lot of floor tiles seem to be lifting up and disappearing. The tiles are quite small and I have no idea why they would have been used in the first place.
It appears this has happened to some wall tiles at some stations and the STM is currently working on replacing them. Perhaps they'll do floors next.
 
In terms of the condition of stations, the Metro looks quite good. The stations were typically built with great materials; I can't see the glazed brick walls and granite floors found at many stations looking bad for many more decades.
 
Junctionist, I'll agree, the stations in Montreal were built with real attention being paid to good design. Good materials and colors, and a real variety of them, were used. The architecture is generally pretty impressive, with high vaulted ceilings, floating bridges above the platforms, etc. I think most if not all of the stations have some form of artwork. It's quite different from most of the Toronto stations, which I have heard several times being compared to public washrooms. But as I said, on my recent visit, I saw some signs of shabbiness. The graffiti situation is clearly worse than Toronto. I already mentioned missing tiles which I saw in a couple of stations, even in my limited travel through just a few stations on the Orange line.

At one station, several lights had burned out above a stairway, leaving it so dark that I thought it was dangerous. This may be an unfair comment; obviously I don't know how long this had been the case.

The Montreal subway still looks far better than Toronto. It could be a bit of a tourist attraction in itself. I don't know who would say that about Toronto. But I suspect they have budget constraints which are now showing up in reduced routine maintenance.

APTA-2048: I can't conceive of new transit vehicles now being ordered without air conditioning. I have no idea what led to this decision, but it seems shortsighted.
 
APTA-2048: I can't conceive of new transit vehicles now being ordered without air conditioning. I have no idea what led to this decision, but it seems shortsighted.

Seems silly to me too. None of the major Quebec transit agencies, including the STM, have air conditioned buses. It's a matter of cost and priority for the STM. They don't want to pay for the A/C itself and it's maintainance. The vice chair of teh STM stated according to a survey a "comfortable temperature" inside the metro ranks No. 12 in order of priority among STM users. There is a trial however to start next year, where a few buses will be air conditioned on certain routes.
 
The decision to buy new stock without air conditioning has less to do with price and desired lack of maintenance, and more to do with the fact that the heat dispelled on the outside of the trains would have nowhere to go. The entire system is enclosed underground (the world's largest fully submerged metro, actually), and studies were done on how much effort would have to be done to install additional ventalation and cooling at all the stations to cope with the heat output from the AC on the trains. The amount of work and money required was astronomical - so, no air conditioning.

For a rich history of the sounds made by the MR-73 trains, here's a great read: http://www.logiquefloue.ca/metro/train-jeumont/historique-du-jeumont/
 

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