Montréal Transit Developments

[nfitz]

Great video! What really stood out for me is the immense amount of developable land to the south of downtown along this new line! Massive! Lol

There is - but there's no plans for any stations in the Pointe. Any future plans.

I noticed that Griffintown (which is further north than I expected) hasn't opened, and is now listed at Projected rather than Under Construction. Is this station cancelled.
You'd think there'd be development. But I'm always surprised at how little has happened around Metro Charlevoix since it opened in the 1970s. It's so close to downtown.

There's a couple of smaller things built right along the canal north of Charlevoix; though the people there might just walk up Atwater to Lionel-Groulx - which is exactly what Google Transit recommends if you are heading to Central Station along the Orange Line.

 

[Mind_the_gap]

Great video! What really stood out for me is the immense amount of developable land to the south of downtown along this new line! Massive! Lol

Notice the unnecessary sound wall on the right side at: ~13:15 - it’s to keep private what filming happens at MELS Studios.

Edit:

Mel’s has used their outdoor parking lots for many film shoots over the years including X-Men and The Aviator, in which Scorsese recreated Hollywood Boulevard. They take privacy very seriously and it’s why the sound barriers are taller there.

Source

 

[ssiguy2]

REM and GO both offer new ways to get downtown and across their respective regions in a vastly more cost effective way than building Metro/subway to the hinterlands ie Vancouver. That said, both made the right choice in their respective technologies and service.

Toronto didn't have a Mount Royal tunnel to take advantage of and nor did Montreal have Toronto's huge and underused rail corridors to buy up because Montreal needs a lot more of them due to being a major Port city. Toronto also spreads out more than Montreal not only because it's a much larger city but also due to it's geographic location up against Lake Ontario.......you have to spread out further from the downtowns to reach as many people. If REM were in Toronto it would not serve near as many communities and to do so would cost exponentially more than expanding GO.

There is no such thing as a one-size fits all transit network as each city has it's own urban development patterns, geographic locations, and amount and type of existing infrastructure to take advantage of and hence have to develop systems that meet their individual needs.

 

[nfitz]

We need to take advantage of the old CP line up the Don Valley; a lot faster and straighter than the old CN line with GO Transit now uses for the Richmond Hill line. (the old unused Don Branch that GO purchased years ago. Combine with a flyover, some track parallel to the CP Belleville Sub (perhaps shared with VIA HFR), and reconstruction of the Leaside Spur (now a walking trail from near Eglinton to York Mills, not far from Leslie - connecting to the Richmond Hill line south of Oriole GO)

Ultimately, the Ontario Line will be more comparable to the REM. Especially with the proposed extensions to make a loop around Toronto on the 407, and through Pearson. The 407 Transitway Pickering and Hamilton could be branches on this too one day.

 

[ARG1]

Doesn't that have something to do with not being able to turn around quickly at Gare Centrale, since when all is said and done trains will just through run?

Yesn't. The Gare Centrale turn around means that trains can't run every 90s, however I don't see a reason why they couldn't run every 3 minutes like in Toronto (its more or less the same setup as the Terminus stations here in Toronto - island platform with a double crossover right before the station).

REM and GO both offer new ways to get downtown and across their respective regions in a vastly more cost effective way than building Metro/subway to the hinterlands ie Vancouver. That said, both made the right choice in their respective technologies and service.

Toronto didn't have a Mount Royal tunnel to take advantage of and nor did Montreal have Toronto's huge and underused rail corridors to buy up because Montreal needs a lot more of them due to being a major Port city. Toronto also spreads out more than Montreal not only because it's a much larger city but also due to it's geographic location up against Lake Ontario.......you have to spread out further from the downtowns to reach as many people. If REM were in Toronto it would not serve near as many communities and to do so would cost exponentially more than expanding GO.

There is no such thing as a one-size fits all transit network as each city has it's own urban development patterns, geographic locations, and amount and type of existing infrastructure to take advantage of and hence have to develop systems that meet their individual needs.

You're right except for one thing, why are you calling the Skytrain a "Metro/subway to the hinterlands"? The REM is literally a direct copy of the Skytrain model - reusing existing rail corridors and tunnels to build a regional metro network, and where no such ROW exist you elevate over a roadway.

 

[nfitz]

Yesn't. The Gare Centrale turn around means that trains can't run every 90s, however I don't see a reason why they couldn't run every 3 minutes like in Toronto (its more or less the same setup as the Terminus stations here in Toronto - island platform with a double crossover right before the station).

You're right except for one thing, why are you calling the Skytrain a "Metro/subway to the hinterlands"? The REM is literally a direct copy of the Skytrain model - reusing existing rail corridors and tunnels to build a regional metro network, and where no such ROW exist you elevate over a roadway.

Most (all?) of the Skytrain tunnels are new. I'm scratching my head where any existing rail corridors were used in Vancouver on most of the lines, except perhaps around False Creek and the two stops to Commerical-Broadway. Yeah, 2 or 3 stops on the Millennium line in Vancouver use rail corridors. Yeah, they used some (but not a heck of a lot) of rail lines in New Westminster. Barely more than a few metres in Burnaby. Nothing in Richmond, other than the elevated track over a rail yard.

Toronto Line 2 also uses rail corridors for some of the outer bits.

I thought the Montreal trains were wider than Vancouver. And none use the same technology.

 

[ARG1]

Most (all?) of the Skytrain tunnels are new. I'm scratching my head where any existing rail corridors were used in Vancouver on most of the lines, except perhaps around False Creek and the two stops to Commerical-Broadway. Yeah, 2 or 3 stops on the Millennium line in Vancouver use rail corridors. Yeah, they used some (but not a heck of a lot) of rail lines in New Westminster. Barely more than a few metres in Burnaby. Nothing in Richmond, other than the elevated track over a rail yard.

Toronto Line 2 also uses rail corridors for some of the outer bits.

I thought the Montreal trains were wider than Vancouver. And none use the same technology.

The Skytrain tunnel I'm referring to is the Dunsmuir Tunnel - the one between Waterfront and Stadium-Chinatown Stations. Its a former single track freight tunnel that was refurbished for the Skytrain (they converted it to a stacked tunnel by adding a floor in the middle of it). Its actually fairly comparable to the Mont Royal Tunnel, where its a former mainline rail tunnel through downtown that connects to the main rail yard/station in downtown.

 

[nfitz]

The Skytrain tunnel I'm referring to is the Dunsmuir Tunnel - the one between Waterfront and Stadium-Chinatown Stations. Its a former single track freight tunnel that was refurbished for the Skytrain (they converted it to a stacked tunnel by adding a floor in the middle of it). Its actually fairly comparable to the Mont Royal Tunnel, where its a former mainline rail tunnel through downtown that connects to the main rail yard/station in downtown.

Ah - I didn't know that - and I've ridden it many times! I guess it used to hook into that old line down near Arbutus.

Still it's dwarfed by the main tunnel by the main Canada Line tunnel. And the new one along West Broadway. There's a similar length tunnel on the Millennium Line to Port Moody too, isn't there. Probably others I don't know about. I don't think REM has any more tunnels.

 

[ARG1]

Ah - I didn't know that - and I've ridden it many times! I guess it used to hook into that old line down near Arbutus.

Still it's dwarfed by the main tunnel by the main Canada Line tunnel. And the new one along West Broadway. There's a similar length tunnel on the Millennium Line to Port Moody too, isn't there. Probably others I don't know about. I don't think REM has any more tunnels.

I think at this point we're pulling hairstrings, not to mention my main point of comparison was the OG expo line. That being said:
1) There will be a tunneled section for the REM between Marie-Curie and Airport Station with the latter being underground (although the tunnel will only be single tracked)
2) I imagine future REM lines will also feature new underground sections if we really want to head this direction (REM B was planned to have several Canada Line styled tunnel sections).

 

[tiffer24]

The Réseau express métropolitain, Montreal's newest mass-transit system, has had to halt service in both directions during its first rush-hour commute on Monday, forcing passengers to get off the trains and triggering the service's emergency backup plan.

Shortly after 9 a.m., the REM put out a notice on social media that service was going to resume gradually.

The southern branch of the REM, which links downtown Montreal to Brossard on the South Shore was inaugurated on Friday. Just before 8 a.m., the driverless trains stopped running, and according to a message relayed to commuters, the delay was due to a "technical problem."

Several trains at a standstill could be seen on the tracks near the Champlain Bridge.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/rem-rush-hour-public-transit-1.6922816

 

[nfitz]

The Réseau express métropolitain, Montreal's newest mass-transit system, has had to halt service in both directions during its first rush-hour commute on Monday, forcing passengers to get off the trains and triggering the service's emergency backup plan.

Which makes me wonder how many days of continuous full-scale trial-running did they have, before the decision to open. Did they forget the sandbags?

Hopefully it's something we learn from, before lines open here.

On the bright side, at last they take their knapsacks off there:

 

[SashaLemon]

The Réseau express métropolitain, Montreal's newest mass-transit system, has had to halt service in both directions during its first rush-hour commute on Monday, forcing passengers to get off the trains and triggering the service's emergency backup plan.

Shortly after 9 a.m., the REM put out a notice on social media that service was going to resume gradually.

The southern branch of the REM, which links downtown Montreal to Brossard on the South Shore was inaugurated on Friday. Just before 8 a.m., the driverless trains stopped running, and according to a message relayed to commuters, the delay was due to a "technical problem."

Several trains at a standstill could be seen on the tracks near the Champlain Bridge.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/rem-rush-hour-public-transit-1.6922816

Reading cranky old people comments on CBC articles is my form of masochism.

 

[W. K. Lis]

In Toronto, as industry moves out of the inner city, could create a GO Midtown train service on the tracks just north of Dupont Street. They could run trains from Kipling, Jane Street and beyond to Leaside, Don Mills, and beyond. Could be used by commuters and everyone who does not want to go downtown, bypassing it. Transfers to Line 1 could be made at Casa Loma (Dupont Station) and North Toronto (Summerhill Station).

See link.

See GO Transit Midtown Corridor thread for more information.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Montreal light-rail transit system shuts down on first official day of service​

From link.

Montreal’s new light-rail transit system shut down unexpectedly this morning on its first full day of operation.

The Réseau express métropolitain, or REM, officially launched today for paying customers after more than 120,000 people rode the system for free over the weekend.

A spokesperson for the REM says a switch problem on the tracks caused service to shut down around 8 a.m. before it resumed at around 9:15 a.m.

Commuters were left waiting in long lines to take shuttle buses to ferry them across the Champlain Bridge connecting Montreal to its South Shore.

The first five stations of the 26-station, 67-kilometre electric rail network opened eight years after the project was conceived by the province’s public pension fund manager, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.

The majority of the REM will open late next year, with an airport link to come in 2027.

 

[p_xavier]

Which makes me wonder how many days of continuous full-scale trial-running did they have, before the decision to open. Did they forget the sandbags?

Hopefully it's something we learn from, before lines open here.

On the bright side, at last they take their knapsacks off there:

You would be told you by randos if you didn't remove your backpack, same as lining up at a bus stop or staying to your right in an escalator.