Metro Montreal
The Montreal Metro ( French Métro de Montréal , English Montreal Metro ) is the main public transport in Montreal . The metro, operated by Société de transport de Montréal (STM), opened in 1966, making it the second oldest subway system in Canada after the Toronto Subway . The four-line network is 69.2 kilometers long and includes 68 stations. The center of the Île de Montréal as well as the neighboring towns of Laval and Longueuil will be developed .
With an average of 1,111,700 passengers on workdays (1st quarter 2011), the metro is the most frequented subway in the country. In 2010, 296.3 million passengers used the metro (not counting transfer passengers). Special features are the use of rubber-tired trains, the completely underground route network and the design of numerous stations with works of art.
history
Failed projects and preliminary planning
The history of public transport in Montreal began in 1861 with the opening of the first horse-drawn tram on Rue Saint-Jacques . The first electric tram ran in 1892 and soon afterwards the network extended over the entire city area. But the rapidly increasing traffic began to have a negative effect on the punctuality of the trams. Several times there have been suggestions to solve this problem by building a subway. In 1910, the Montreal Central Terminal Co. wanted to build a tunnel under the St. Lawrence River, but this failed due to the resistance of the established railway companies.
The Montreal Underground and Elevated Railway Co. made a similar proposal in 1912. The tram operator Montreal Tramways Co. (MTC) first proposed a conventional subway line in 1913. It was to run from Rue Craig along Rue Bleury and Avenue du Parc to Avenue du Mont-Royal; an extension along the Boulevard Saint-Laurent would have been added later. The project did not materialize, initially due to the effects of World War I , then due to the city's debt crisis, which resulted in temporary trusteeship management by the provincial government. After F. S. Williamson presented a project in 1924, Paul Seurot followed suit in 1925. The latter carried out a study based on this four years later on behalf of the MTC. The Great Depression , from which Montreal was particularly hard hit, thwarted further progress.
Project 1913
Project 1944
1953 project
Project 1961
In 1944, the MTC submitted another subway project to the city administration. The first line was to run under Rue Sainte-Catherine between Square Cabot and Avenue Papineau, the second under Rue Saint-Denis from Jean-Talon to Notre-Dame and from there under Rue Saint-Jacques to Rue Guy. Nothing emerged from these plans either, as the city came under trusteeship again. After the city took over the private tram company in 1950, it closed all routes until 1959. Their replacement by a subway was still a long time coming. The urban transport company presented an extensive study in 1953. She proposed the construction of a line under Rue Sainte-Catherine, Rue Saint-Jacques and Boulevard Crémazie, supplemented by extensions to be built later.
Construction of the basic network
Jean Drapeau won the mayoral election of 1960, among other things, with the promise to finally move ahead with the subway project. On October 20, 1961, he presented the preliminary project, which was basically the same as the current network, but also had significant deviations. Among other things, it was planned to include the Mont-Royal tunnel , previously used by railways, as part of line 3.
The city council approved a loan on November 3, 1961 for the construction of the basic network. The groundbreaking ceremony took place on May 23, 1962 and the construction work was under the direction of chief engineer Lucien L'Allier. In November 1962, Montreal was awarded the contract to host the Expo 67 world exhibition , which resulted in several project changes. Since the negotiations with the Canadian National Railway on the use of the Mont-Royal tunnel had failed, was abandoned on the construction of the line 3. Instead, the power to the new line 4 was under the Saint Lawrence River in the suburb of Longueuil supplements . The excavation was used for land reclamation: In the St. Lawrence River, the Île Sainte-Hélène was enlarged and the Île Notre-Dame was created from scratch. Most of the world exhibition grounds were located on these two islands.
On October 14, 1966, the Montreal subway opened with two lines. The green line 1 led initially from Atwater to Papineau , the orange line 2 from Place-d'Armes to Henri-Bourassa . The completion of smaller sections was delayed by a few months. On December 19, 1966, the green line was extended from Papineau to Frontenac , and the Beaudry intermediate station was added two days later . The orange line was supplemented by two sections; on February 6, 1967 from Place-d'Armes to Square-Victoria-OACI , on February 19 to Bonaventure . The end of the basic network was formed on March 31, 1967 opened yellow line 4 from Berri-UQAM to Longueuil-Université-de-Sherbrooke , which was supplemented on April 28, 1967 by the intermediate station Île-Sainte-Hélène (now Jean-Drapeau ) .
Extensions
In May 1970, Montreal was awarded the contract to host the 1976 Summer Olympics . In order to be able to transport the numerous visitors to the Olympic Park , work began in 1971 on the north-eastern extension of the green line. The opening of the section Frontenac - Honoré-Beaugrand took place on June 6, 1976, six weeks before the start of the Olympic Games. A little over two years later, on September 3, 1978, the green line was extended southwest from Atwater to Angrignon , which gave it its final extension.
In the 1980s, several extensions followed one after the other on the western branch of the orange line. It all started on April 28, 1980 with the Bonaventure - Place-Saint-Henri section . From there, the route was extended to Snowdon on September 7, 1981 , to Côte-Sainte-Catherine on January 4, 1982 , to Plamondon on June 29, 1982 , to Du Collège on January 9, 1984 and finally on October 27, 1986 to Côte-Vertu . Construction of blue line 5 also began in the 1980s . The first section between Saint-Michel and De Castelnau was opened on June 16, 1986. This was followed by the sections De Castelnau - Parc on June 15, 1987 and Parc - Snowdon on January 4, 1988. Finally, on March 28, 1988, the Acadie intermediate station was opened.
The early 1990s were marked by large public deficits in Canada and particularly in the province of Québec . As a result, various expansion projects no longer had secure financing and a moratorium was imposed over several years . It was not until 2002 that the construction of the route started again. The orange line was extended under the Rivière des Prairies to the neighboring town of Laval . The Henri-Bourassa - Montmorency section opened on April 28, 2007.
Lines
The current Montreal metro network has 68 stations and is 69.2 kilometers long. There are currently four lines; these are mainly distinguished by their color, but also by their number and their end stations. The direction of travel is always given with the name of the terminus. The longest and most heavily used line is the green, the least used the blue, which is the only one that does not run through the city center. The shortest line is the yellow one. This and the orange line also leave the Île de Montréal .
Line 3 does not exist. It should also have run above ground and use the route of a suburban railway, but was postponed in favor of line 4 and finally abandoned.
| line | route | opening | length | Stations | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (green) | Angrignon ↔ Honoré-Beaugrand | 1966 | 22.1 km | 27 | |
| 2 (orange) | Côte-Vertu ↔ Montmorency | 1966 | 30.0 km | 31 | |
| 4 (yellow) | Berri-UQAM ↔ Longueuil – Université-de-Sherbrooke | 1967 | 4.25 km | 3 | |
| 5 (blue) | Snowdon ↔ Saint-Michel | 1986 | 9.7 km | 12 | |
business
The underground service starts at 5:30 a.m. and ends at 1:00 a.m. on weekdays and Sundays. On Saturdays, operations will stop half an hour later. Due to the lower number of passengers, operation on the blue line ends at 12:15 a.m. During rush hour (HVZ) the trains on the green and orange lines run every 2 to 4 minutes, otherwise every 5 to 10 minutes. The yellow line is driven every 4 to 6 minutes during peak hours and every 10 minutes at other times. The blue line runs every 4 to 5 minutes during peak hours, otherwise every 6 to 10 minutes.
The metro is operated by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), which is also responsible for bus operations on the Île de Montréal . The stations are demarcated by barriers that can only be passed with a magnetic card or a contactless card. The metro is fully integrated into the tariff system of the Agence métropolitaine de transport .
Technology and trains
The Montreal subway runs - based on a model on the Paris Metro - on rubber tires. However, this is not the reason why it drives completely underground. Rather, the system is not designed for above-ground travel. The technical equipment of the trains is not protected from water. In addition, the rubber wheels significantly reduce driving noise and make it easier to negotiate height differences compared to trains with metal tires. For example, the rubber wheels on the yellow line are absolutely necessary, as the inclines built to cross under the St. Lawrence River cannot be negotiated with metal tire trains. In addition, the francophone Montreal wanted to underline a certain bond with France, which also influenced the choice of system.
All lines except the yellow one are equipped with automatic train control. The signaling devices send data to the trains, which are equipped with antennas. As a result, the trains run at an “optimized” speed. In the case of manual control, the speedometer only shows the maximum speed allowed. The trains stop very precisely at the platforms, there are only deviations of five centimeters. This is determined by a locating device that calculates the exact length of the platform and the train.
Two types of trains are currently in use in Montreal. The type M-63 was delivered by Canadian Vickers from 1963 . The 336 cars of this type run on the green and yellow lines. The M-73 train type , delivered by Bombardier from 1973 , is used on the orange and blue lines; there are 423 cars. In addition, there are a total of 83 special vehicles for operational purposes. The trains have proven to be extremely reliable and durable, as they are hardly exposed to weather conditions due to the completely underground route of the metro. However, they are now considered obsolete, which is why the STM has asked the provincial government of Québec to invest funds in the procurement of new trains. In 2010 the decision was made to buy new modern trains. From 2014 the MPM-10 train type of the Bombardier- Alstom consortium will be delivered. The 468 cars of this type will replace the M-63 cars. A first train has now arrived in Montreal and has taken nightly test drives on the blue line. The first train on the orange line has been in operation for test purposes in passenger service since February 7, 2016.
On January 16, 2017, the STM took all 12 AZUR units out of operation after a sanding pad damaged signaling systems on January 14 and led to a malfunction on the orange line for several hours. To investigate the cause in detail, a train was equipped with cameras in order to observe the behavior of the grinding shoes. After work on the track systems and changes in the maintenance of the grinding shoes, the trains gradually went back into operation from January 28, 2017.
architecture
The Montreal subway is widely recognized for its station architecture. Under the direction of the then mayor Jean Drapeau , a Canadian architectural competition was announced so that each station could be designed differently. For example, the Berri-UQAM station is very much influenced by the modern style.
Similar to the Stockholm Tunnelbana , the Montreal Metro was one of the first subways in the western states to begin exhibiting public art in the subway stations. This was previously known from the Eastern Bloc countries . One of the most important works is a glass painting in the Champ-de-Mars station, a masterpiece by Québec artist Marcelle Ferron . Also noteworthy is the Guimard entrance at the Square Victoria OACI station. It is a gift from the RATP , the operator of the Paris Metro, as it helped build the Montreal metro. It is one of the extremely rare original Guimard entrances outside of Paris .
The design of the Montreal Metro is very much tailored to the local harsh winter conditions . In contrast to other subway cities, most of the entrances are relatively narrow and have pivoting doors, so that wind and snow are kept out of the station as much as possible. Several stations in the city center are connected to neighboring buildings by pedestrian tunnels and form part of the extensive Montreal underground city .
Expansion planning
In December 2011, the Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT) published the Vision 2020 study . In addition to numerous other service improvements, three expansions of the metro network are planned by 2020.
Line 2 is initially to be extended further north-west from Côte-Vertu. This extension should include two new stations, Poirier and Bois-Franc. The latter would create a traffic hub with the existing station of the AMT suburban railway to Deux-Montagnes . Gilles Vaillancourt , the mayor of Laval, proposed in 2007 to connect the two ends of the orange line. This would create a ring line with six additional stations (three each in Montreal and Laval). In 2011 Vaillancourt presented the urban development program ÉvoluCité , which explicitly includes the expansion of the metro in the city of Laval. The plan is to close the gap to a ring line and a short branch in a northerly direction to the Carrefour Laval shopping center .
According to Vision 2020 , line 4 is to be continued into the city of Longueuil, up to Boulevard Rolland-Therrien. The four to six new stations would connect residential areas, shopping centers and several schools. Since line 1 between Berri-UQAM and McGill stations is heavily used at peak times, the Montreal city council proposed in April 2008 that line 4 be extended there to relieve this section.
According to Vision 2020, line 5 is to continue north-east from Saint-Michel to the Arrondissement of Anjou . A total of five new stations are planned; the terminus would be at the Galeries d'Anjou shopping center , in the immediate vicinity of a motorway junction. On the other hand, the extension of line 5 from Snowdon to the southwest was postponed indefinitely. Would it opened Côte-Saint-Luc , Montreal West , Lachine and the airport Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau . In its Vision 2020, AMT is now considering expanding the suburban railway line along the south bank of the Île de Montréal to connect the airport .
Culture
The metro has also served as a film set for:
- The Jackal : According to the script, the scenes take place in the Washington Metro , but were actually shot in the Lionel-Groulx station.
- Jesus of Montreal
literature
- German
- WJ Hinkel, K. Driver, G. Valenta and H. Liebsch: yesterday-today-tomorrow - U-Bahn from 1863 to 2010 Schmid Verlag, Vienna 2004, ISBN 3-900607-44-3
- French
- Benoît Clairoux: Le métro de Montréal: 35 ans déjà , Hurtubise HMH, ISBN 2-89428-526-4
- Le Métro de Montréal , Communauté urbaine de Montréal, Montréal 1983, ISBN 2-920295-19-5
- Marielle Dubois: Montréal en métro , Guides de voyage Ulysse, September 1996, ISBN 2-921444-08-9
Web links
- Official operator website (French / English)
- Fansite of the Montreal Metro with information, pictures and descriptions (French / English)
- History of the station names of the Montreal Metro (French)
- Metro Montreal at urbanrail.net (English)
- Track Plan of the Montreal Metro (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Montreal Metro. urbanrail.net, accessed on February 21, 2012 (English).
- ↑ Transit Ridership Report, 1st Quarter 2011. (PDF, 198 KB) American Public Transportation Association, May 13, 2011, accessed February 9, 2012 .
- ↑ Transit Ridership Report, 4th Quarter 2010. (PDF, 234 KB) American Public Transportation Association, March 9, 2011, accessed February 9, 2012 .
- ^ David A. Wyatt: Transit History of Montreal, Quebec. University of Manitoba, April 13, 2011, accessed February 9, 2012 .
- ↑ Un projet de chemin de fer basement in Montréal dès 1910! (No longer available online.) Société de transport de Montréal, archived from the original on July 19, 2012 ; Retrieved February 9, 2012 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ 1912-1913: Germes du réseau initial du métro et référendum. (No longer available online.) Société de transport de Montréal, archived from the original on July 19, 2012 ; Retrieved February 9, 2012 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ La question du métro dans les années 1920. (No longer available online.) Société de transport de Montréal, archived from the original on July 19, 2012 ; Retrieved February 9, 2012 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Le métro refait surface en 1944. (No longer available online.) Société de transport de Montréal, archived from the original on July 20, 2012 ; Retrieved February 9, 2012 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Les années 1950. (No longer available online.) Société de transport de Montréal, archived from the original on July 20, 2012 ; Retrieved February 9, 2012 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Lucien Saulnier and Jean Drapeau present l'avant-projet du métro de Montréal (1961). (No longer available online.) Société de transport de Montréal, formerly the original ; Retrieved February 9, 2012 (French). ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ On October 14, 1966, public a enfin accès au métro! (No longer available online.) Société de transport de Montréal, archived from the original on July 20, 2012 ; Retrieved February 9, 2012 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Heures d'ouverture du metro. Société de transport de Montréal, accessed February 9, 2012 (French).
- ^ Fréquence de service du metro. Société de transport de Montréal, accessed February 9, 2012 (French).
- ^ Matériel roulant. metrodemontreal.com, accessed February 9, 2012 (French).
- ↑ Les nouvelles voitures seront en service à partir de 2014. (No longer available online.) Quebec Ministry of Transport, October 22, 2010, archived from the original on August 12, 2014 ; Retrieved February 9, 2012 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ New metro trains take test trip on blue line. CTV Montreal, June 2, 2014, accessed August 11, 2014 .
- ↑ AZUR se point le bout du nez pour la première fois en tunnel! MTA, accessed August 11, 2014 .
- ↑ AZUR marque l'histoire et accueille ses premiers clients. In: press release. STM, February 7, 2016, accessed February 8, 2016 (French).
- ^ Incident sur la ligne orange - Rapport d'étape du 18 January 2017. In: Press release. STM, January 18, 2017, accessed February 2, 2017 (French).
- ↑ Partage des conclusions sur l'incident du 14 janvier 2017 et retour progressif of the AZUR. In: press release. STM, January 27, 2017, accessed February 2, 2017 (French).
- ↑ a b c Les grands projets. (No longer available online.) In: Vision 2020. Agence métropolitaine de transport, December 2011, archived from the original on December 19, 2011 ; Retrieved February 9, 2012 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Plan de transport, le métro. City of Montreal, 2008, accessed February 9, 2012 (French).
- ^ Métro et budget. (No longer available online.) Radio Canada December 10, 2007, archived from the original on July 29, 2014 ; Retrieved February 9, 2012 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Métro: Laval réclame cinq nouvelles stations. (No longer available online.) Courrier Laval on May 26, 2011, archived from the original on July 20, 2011 ; Retrieved February 9, 2012 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Le prolongement de la ligne 4 du métro dans Longueuil. Réseau de transport de Longueuil, 2010, accessed on February 9, 2012 (French).
- ^ Deux nouvelles stations en vue. (No longer available online.) Radio Canada on April 18, 2008, archived from the original on June 2, 2011 ; Retrieved February 9, 2012 (French). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Pour un métro vers l'ouest. (No longer available online.) Le Messager LaSalle, November 28, 2011, formerly in the original ; Retrieved February 9, 2012 (French). ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
