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Ontario is chipping in a GO train to help Montreal and Laval's transit agencies adjust to increased ridership in the wake of the weekend collapse of a key commuter overpass.
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has offered the use of a commuter train that usually plies "GO Train" routes in the Toronto area to help the overloaded public transit systems in Quebec.
"[Quebec officials] tell me there has been an increase, [a] fairly dramatic increase, in demand for the rail," McGuinty told reporters in Toronto on Tuesday.
"There's a rail line that runs along the site of the tragedy, and more and more people want to use that rail line. We are more than pleased to help out."
The GO train can carry up to 1,400 commuters at a time.
Montreal authorities will go to Toronto on Wednesday to pick up the train and bring it back to Quebec via CN's rail tracks. McGuinty said Montreal can keep the train as long as it wants, because it's not being used in Toronto.
In the past two days, at least 1,000 people a day have opted to use a special shuttle bus service offered between the community of Laval and Montreal's subway line, said the island's transit agency, the AMT.
The buses, which run between Cinéma Guzzo and the Henri-Bourassa subway station were running at full capacity during Tuesday morning's rush hour.
For some commuters, the experience left a mark. It was "very incredible and helpful," said Lilianne Sénécal, from Laval, who took a shuttle bus from Cinéma Guzzo to the Henri-Bourassa metro station. "I used to park my car at the [commuter] train station, but I prefer it this way."
Others who tried public transit Tuesday after spending hours caught in gridlock Monday were astounded at how fast the shuttle bus got them to the subway system.
"The time it takes to cross the Viau bridge, it's more than an hour [by car]. With the bus it's a few minutes," gushed Simon Lacombe, who works in Montreal, but lives in Laval.
"If the pass was cheaper, I'd take the bus. It's more fun on the bus," he said before getting on the shuttle Tuesday morning.
Louroz
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has offered the use of a commuter train that usually plies "GO Train" routes in the Toronto area to help the overloaded public transit systems in Quebec.
"[Quebec officials] tell me there has been an increase, [a] fairly dramatic increase, in demand for the rail," McGuinty told reporters in Toronto on Tuesday.
"There's a rail line that runs along the site of the tragedy, and more and more people want to use that rail line. We are more than pleased to help out."
The GO train can carry up to 1,400 commuters at a time.
Montreal authorities will go to Toronto on Wednesday to pick up the train and bring it back to Quebec via CN's rail tracks. McGuinty said Montreal can keep the train as long as it wants, because it's not being used in Toronto.
In the past two days, at least 1,000 people a day have opted to use a special shuttle bus service offered between the community of Laval and Montreal's subway line, said the island's transit agency, the AMT.
The buses, which run between Cinéma Guzzo and the Henri-Bourassa subway station were running at full capacity during Tuesday morning's rush hour.
For some commuters, the experience left a mark. It was "very incredible and helpful," said Lilianne Sénécal, from Laval, who took a shuttle bus from Cinéma Guzzo to the Henri-Bourassa metro station. "I used to park my car at the [commuter] train station, but I prefer it this way."
Others who tried public transit Tuesday after spending hours caught in gridlock Monday were astounded at how fast the shuttle bus got them to the subway system.
"The time it takes to cross the Viau bridge, it's more than an hour [by car]. With the bus it's a few minutes," gushed Simon Lacombe, who works in Montreal, but lives in Laval.
"If the pass was cheaper, I'd take the bus. It's more fun on the bus," he said before getting on the shuttle Tuesday morning.
Louroz