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Montréal Transit Developments

The new REM extension looks like a hit, and the addition McGill and É-M stations are big improvements to downtown Montreal's transit network, with 2 east-west axes and 3 north-south axes running throughout. The biggest disappointment, however, is no Griffintown or Bonaventure stations in sight, south of Gare Central.

With the opening of this extension, Montreal also now has 118 km of metro transit, with 87 stations across 5 lines, unseating Vancouver as the previous Canadian champ in terms of system length.
 
reinventingthewheel said:
I saw some french discussion of this online but didn’t take the time to translate. Has the Griffintown infill been descoped entirely or just delayed significantly?
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It's not looking good for construction any time soon, unfortunately. The CDPQi is now saying that to make things more efficient, they won't build Griffintown station until they can start Bonaventure at the same time.

However, Bonaventure isn't even approved and funded yet. I think we know how this usually goes.
 
felix123 said:
It's not looking good for construction any time soon, unfortunately. The CDPQi is now saying that to make things more efficient, they won't build Griffintown station until they can start Bonaventure at the same time.

However, Bonaventure isn't even approved and funded yet. I think we know how this usually goes.
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CDPQi recently said that both stations are technically feasible and shouldn't overtly disrupt ongoing operations of the REM. I think it's more a matter of timing and financing -- because the original station in this area was supposed to be an underground station at Peel Bassin, but there was a change request to have it moved north to its present location in 2020, when the Brossard segment was already well into the construction phase. That was the original cause of the delay - otherwise the original Peel Bassin station could've been opened way back in July 2023 along with the rest of the Brossard line had it not been for this last minute change request...

Now, to add these two infill stations (the previous Montreal administration requested additional of a second infill station), CDQPi is saying they need new procurement phase and redo a lot of the work, along with coordination with municipal utilities etc. at the new station site. Given the timeline pressures to open the remaining two branches ASAP, esp the YUL airport branch, I think these two infills got pushed down in terms of priority.

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Bonaventure Station?

First time I hear of Bridge-Bonaventure Station. It seems it was requested by the city a year ago.

CBC says reports that the CDPQ wants to build both at the same time to minimize disruption. But the Province is still looking into it financing-wise.
 
innsertnamehere said:
The ridiculous slow-zone crap the TTC is perpetuating all through the network wasn't a thing back then and theoretically could go away with a stroke of a pen too.
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There're no slow zones northbound between Bloor and Finch - which is where I've noticed issues in the last few years; and a single one southbound at Eglinton/Davisville. Digging into the details, the southbound one is only about 150 metres long, with a 7 km/hr reduction in speed - which I'm surprised anyone would notice! I honestly don't notice the 180-metre long one westbound at Woodbine - and it's a 24 km/hr speed drop! Both should be gone in 3-4 weeks.

To be honest, I haven't noticed the 180-metre long one northbound between Union and King either - it has a 12 km/hr speed reduction, and that tight curve has seemed too slow since before they retired the red subway cars. However it's the last speed reduction that's scheduled for removal in another month or so.

Historically, the officially published travel time from Finch to Union was 28 minutes - though when I rode it regularly 35-years ago in AM peak, it certainly felt slower most days ... with the train sitting somewhere because of congestion; and those seemed to be on every AM peak trip! Those who note the occasional long run now, seem to ignore that it was always a problem at peak periods. Looks like the current travel time on Google is as low as 27 minutes when there's few passengers!

The new pen started about 4 months ago!


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Why is Yorkdale to Glencairn still a slow zone? It's so unbearably slow especially since you can see the cars blowing by at 100 while the train crawls along. It doesn't create a good impression of the subway on drivers either.

Edit: I hope the section of the REM that goes along A-40 will make drivers want to consider it!
 
urbanclient said:
You clearly do not ride Line 1 on a daily basis. You probably got that 28-30 minute time from Google maps or other app which lists theoretical ETAs, which have not been adhered to for many, many years. I timed my own trip from North York Centre to Union at 34 minutes from train doors close to doors open on Monday. My wife's trip Union to Finch was 37 minutes yesterday early afternoon. I will gladly record videos on separate days if anyone does not believe me.
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innsertnamehere said:
I admit I haven't ridden that stretch regularly since.. oh god, 2014 or so - it was definitely around that 28-30 minute range then. The ridiculous slow-zone crap the TTC is perpetuating all through the network wasn't a thing back then and theoretically could go away with a stroke of a pen too. It's mismanagement causing those travel times, not infrastructure design.

The OL is exciting to me as it will transform transit use in Toronto in a similar way to REM - cutting inner city east-west travel times massively and much better connecting Scarborough and East York into downtown. Eglinton is an important project to provide consistent, reliable service along that corridor, but it's not going to transform travel in the busiest areas of the city like the OL will.
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nfitz said:
Looks like the current travel time on Google is as low as 27 minutes when there's few passengers!
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I regularly take Line 1 up and down both sides from Finch, North York Centre and Sheppard West. Mornings, midday, evenings, weekdays, weekends. Just last week I had a trip take 38 minutes from Union up to North York Centre minus 4 minutes due to having to hold at Davisville inexplicably, for a net travel time of 34 minutes doors close to doors open. If you actually timed Line 1 travel times vs. Google Maps/Transit you'd notice a large discrepancy. Google Maps doesn't correct for inaccurate ETAs even if I take the subway with the app open. This is possibly due to the fact that there is no GPS signal in most tunnels and stations.

Just a few stations into any journey 5+ stops along Line 1, if you exit navigation and recalculate the ETA from a station mid-way to the intended destination, you'll notice a delay compared to the original ETA.

If anyone can provide empirical proof i.e. a video of a trip on Line 1 that adheres to the Google Maps ETA I would genuinely be amazed. The fastest I have timed a post-covid Line 1 train is 32 minutes doors close Union to doors open North York Centre back in 2023. Still 4-5 minutes slower than advertised but not as bad as 34 minutes. The trains were faster before ATO was implemented.
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urbanclient said:
I regularly take Line 1 up and down both sides from Finch, North York Centre and Sheppard West. Mornings, midday, evenings, weekdays, weekends. Just last week I had a trip take 38 minutes from Union up to North York Centre minus 4 minutes due to having to hold at Davisville inexplicably, for a net travel time of 34 minutes doors close to doors open. If you actually timed Line 1 travel times vs. Google Maps/Transit you'd notice a large discrepancy. Google Maps doesn't correct for inaccurate ETAs even if I take the subway with the app open. This is possibly due to the fact that there is no GPS signal in most tunnels and stations.

Just a few stations into any journey 5+ stops along Line 1, if you exit navigation and recalculate the ETA from a station mid-way to the intended destination, you'll notice a delay compared to the original ETA.

If anyone can provide empirical proof i.e. a video of a trip on Line 1 that adheres to the Google Maps ETA I would genuinely be amazed. The fastest I have timed a post-covid Line 1 train is 32 minutes doors close Union to doors open North York Centre back in 2023. Still 4-5 minutes slower than advertised but not as bad as 34 minutes. The trains were faster before ATO was implemented.
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This seems to be a common issue for many things now.

I occasionally use Metro for grocery delivery (the big bulky or heavy stuff) and they will send you a notification by email that "your delivery will arrive soon" and there's a link to a website that actually shows you where the driver is and you can watch the little truck navigating the city in semi-real time (I think it refreshes every 60 seconds or so). Then it will say something like "your driver is two minutes away," and I look at the map and the driver who is allegedly two minutes away will be at Yonge and Bloor. I'm at Queen and Parliament. You aren't making that trip in two minutes. Try 15, maybe 20 at rush hour.

I wonder if it's bad analytical programming, or if it's deliberate because they want customers to be ready in advance to act faster so the drop-off can happen quickly.

I see this same issue with Uber too. The time to pick-up is always way off. I get notices "the driver will arrive in two minutes" and see there's no way that could be correct on the embedded map in the app. I think they simply over-promise and under-deliver, like, seriously, you think you can get from Bathurst and Adelaide to Yonge and Adelaide in two minutes at 5:00 p.m. on a Wednesday?
 
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dowlingm said:

"A group of people walking attempted to cross Highway 10 and the REM tracks to reach the other side. Despite the arrival of a train, they continued walking," Sûreté du Québec spokesperson Sgt. Ève Brochu-Joubert told CBC.
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At the end of the day, you can’t fix stupid.

If this were an at-grade tramway/LRT or streetcar, people would probably have some sympathy for the injured “victim”. But that part of REM is in the middle of a 6 lane highway, separated by concrete barriers and metal fencing. Wouldn’t be surprised if they were under influence of alcohol or other substances, at 3 am in the morning no less.
 
^ No offense, but sounds like immigrants trying to escape the States without knowing that REM is fully within a segregated ROW, considering this happened around Brossard...

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I wanted to share two videos of the Réseau-express-ascenceurs at É-M:
It's so cool seeing a lift go 20 floors in under ten seconds. The bonus is the LEDs inside the lift follow the lift's progression, similar to how the lift progression at the CN Tower used to be shown.

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Re: GBL:
(CBC)

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Edit: Just released, as promised:
 
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Mind_the_gap said:
^ No offense, but sounds like immigrants trying to escape the States without knowing that REM is fully within a segregated ROW, considering this happened around Brossard...
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WTAF? In urban Montreal? A 13-hour walk to the border according to Google. What has this got to do with the USA?

There appears to be victim blaming here. It will be interesting to see in the investigation when the system sensed the trespassers on the track, and when it started emergency braking.
We don't really want idiots being run over by trains.
 
nfitz said:
WTAF? In urban Montreal? A 13-hour walk to the border according to Google. What has this got to do with the USA?

There appears to be victim blaming here. It will be interesting to see in the investigation when the system sensed the trespassers on the track, and when it started emergency braking.
We don't really want idiots being run over by trains.
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I'm curious, is there a possibility there wasn't even any intrusion detection setup in this section? After all it was in the middle of a highway median, they might not have thought it was necessary to add in this location
 
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