Deux-Montagnes Line (AMT)
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| Deux-Montagnes Line | |
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| Operating Since | 1918 as a CN Service |
| Transferred to STCUM | 1982 |
| Refurbished | 1992 – 1995 |
| Transferred to AMT | 1996 |
| Length | 31.1 kilometres |
| Number of Stations | 12 |
| Ridership (2006, Weekdays) | 31,800[1] |
| Daily Departures | 26 Inbound, 23 Outbound |
| Operated by | CN's Montrain Division |
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The Deux-Montagnes line is a commuter railway line operated in the Greater Montreal, Quebec, Canada area, by the Agence métropolitaine de transport, or AMT, (in English, the ‘Metropolitan transport agency’), the umbrella organization that plans, integrates, and coordinates public transport services across this region.
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[edit] Overview
This line links Central Station in downtown Montreal with Deux-Montagnes to the northwest of the Island of Montreal.
The line offers frequent service during rush hours (10–30 minute intervals) and hourly service outside rush hours on weekdays. There is less frequent service on Saturdays and Sundays.[2]
The trains are owned and managed by the Agence métropolitaine de transport, and operated by Canadian National's Montrain division.
Deux-Montagnes, Roxboro-Pierrefonds and Central Station are wheel chair accessible.[3]
Today, more than 31,000 people ride this train daily, more than Montreal’s four other commuter railway lines combined.
[edit] History
- See Mount Royal Tunnel for additional information.
The Deux-Montagnes line was built by the Canadian Northern Railway. While other railways including Canadian Pacific and Grand Trunk Railway already had prime downtown locations for their terminal stations, Canadian Northern did not, having only a station out of the way on Moreau Street in Hochelaga.
In 1910, it was decided that the best way for Canadian Northern to get downtown was to drill their way downtown — through Mont Royal. The construction started at both ends and met half way through with only an inch difference. In 1918 the electrified (3 kV DC overhead lines), double-track 3.2 mile (5.15 km) tunnel was dubbed Montreal’s first subway. Because the tunnel is inadequately ventilated[4] [5] it was decided from the very beginning that the locomotives would be electric. The ventilation shaft is located SW of the intersection of Édouard-Montpetit Boulevard and Vincent-d'Indy Avenue (formerly Maplewood Avenue and Bellingham Road) very close to the Édouard-Montpetit Metro Station[6][7].
The structure gauge of the Mount Royal Tunnel limits the height of bilevel cars to 14'-6" or 4420 mm [8].
In order to finance the project, Canadian Northern built a ‘model city’ north of the tunnel, modeled after Washington, D.C. The Town of Mount-Royal has grown to be an upper-income neighborhood today. Construction began in 1912 and finished in 1918. The first train was pulled by electric locomotive #601 (retired as #6711), which left Central Station at 8:30 a.m. on October 21, 1918. The Canadian Northern Railway went bankrupt and was absorbed into what is now Canadian National.
In the 1960s, the first plans were announced to renovate the line, whose equipment was 40 years old at the time. First, it was to become metro line 3, but plans were shelved because of the importance to build line 4 for service to Expo 67. With the equipment ageing, and ridership declining, CN wanted to close the line in the 1970s, but their proposals were rejected. The Quebec Ministry of Transport considered using the line for a high-speed connection to Mirabel Airport (Transport rapide régional aéroportuaire Montréal Mirabel, 1974) or as the first line of a BART-style regional metro system (Réseau express de Montréal, 1977; Métro régional, 1979). None of these projects progressed beyond the planning stage.
In 1982, the fares for the trains were integrated with the fares for the Metro and buses. The fare was two bus tickets. This was later reduced to one from Central Station to Val-Royal (now Bois-Franc).
In 1992, the government of Quebec announced a modernisation plan for the line which would include 58 state-of-the-art 25 kV AC electric multiple-unit trains built by Bombardier Transportation, new tracks, and centralised traffic control. Service was shut down completely in the summers of 1993, 1994 and 1995 to allow for major work to be done. The last of the old rolling stock left Central Station at 6:30 p.m. on June 2, 1995 - 76 years, 8 months, 11 days, and ten hours after it first went into service. The same locomotive, #6711 (with #6710 (pictured)), hauled the last train through the tunnel.
[edit] Future Projects
To ease over-crowding and attract new users on the Deux-Montagnes Line, the AMT plans to:
- Extend the double track from its current end point at the Bois-Franc station to the Roxboro-Pierrefonds station in Pierrefonds-Roxboro.
- Create an overpass for commuter trains to by-pass CN's Saint-Laurent subdivision just south of the Montpellier station, where CN operates a freight line with moderate usage. CN says that it will not allow any more commuter trains without a new overpass.
- Open two new train stations: one at Autoroute 13 near boulevard Gouin (between Bois-Franc and Sunnybrooke stations), and another in Saint-Eustache, just east of the line's current Deux-Montagnes terminus.
[edit] List of stations
The following stations are on the Deux-Montagnes line:
| Station | Location | Connections |
|---|---|---|
| Central Station | Montreal | VIA Rail, Amtrak, and Downtown Terminus (Terminus RTL). Bonaventure metro station, Société de transport de Montréal (STM) 150, 358, 410, 430, 535, 935 (within walking distance along René Lévesque Boulevard), 61, 75, 168, 420 (On University Street), 74, 75 (On rue de la Gauchetière)[9]. |
| Canora | border between Mount-Royal and Montreal | STM 92, 160 (less than 200 metres south at Wilderton Ave. / Bates Rd. east bound & Wilderton Ave. / Barclay St. west bound Map), 372. |
| Mont-Royal | Mount Royal | STM 16, 119, 165, 535. |
| Montpellier | Saint Laurent | STM 121, 128, 171, 378, 380. |
| Du Ruisseau | border of Saint Laurent and Montreal | STM 117, 135.STL (Laval) 55 |
| Bois-Franc | STM 64, 126, 164, 170, 215, 382. STL Routes 55, 144, 151. former AMT, now STL, Express route 902. | |
| Sunnybrooke | Pierrefonds-Roxboro /Dollard-des-Ormeaux | STM 68, 213, 268 (Train Bus), 382 on Gouin Boulevard in Pierrefonds-Roxboro and STM 208 on the other side of the track on rue Cérès in Dollard-des-Ormeaux |
| Roxboro-Pierrefonds | Pierrefonds-Roxboro | STM 68, 205, 206, 208, 209, 213, 265(TB),268(TB), 382. |
| Île-Bigras | Laval (Île Bigras) | STL No buses. |
| Sainte-Dorothée | Laval (Sainte-Dorothée) | STL Routes 26, 76, 402, 404, 903. [10] |
| Grand-Moulin | Deux-Montagnes | CIT Laurentides[11] 80 |
| Deux-Montagnes | CIT Laurentides Routes 80, 88 (Connection to Sainte-Thérèse station), 89, 90, 92 |
The Deux-Montagnes line uses the CN Deux-Montagnes Subdivision between mile 0.8 (Central Station) and 19.4 (Deux-Montagnes).
[edit] See also
- Canadian Northern Railway
- Dorion-Rigaud Line
- Blainville-Saint-Jerome Line
- Mont-Saint-Hilaire Line
- Delson-Candiac Line
- Repentigny-Mascouche Line
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.amt.qc.ca/corpo/documents/rapannuel/RapportActivites2006_en.pdf
- ^ Horaire Montreal/Deux-Montagnes. AMT (2006). Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
- ^ Lève-personne pour la clientèle en fauteuil roulant maintenant en service à la gare Deux-Montagnes
- ^ Une virée dans le puits de ventilation du tunnel Mont-Royal. Marc Dufour (2006). Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
- ^ Le tunnel, à l'arrivée du puits de ventilation. Marc Dufour (2006). Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
- ^ Carte du Tunnel. Marc Dufour (2006). Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
- ^ Coupe Geologique. Marc Dufour (2006). Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
- ^ Coupe Tunnel Double. Marc Dufour (2006). Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
- ^ Plan du Reseau STM 2007. STM (2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-15.
- ^ 2008 Plan du Reseau STL 2008. STL (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-21.
- ^ CIT Laurentides. CIT Laurentides (2006). Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
[edit] External links
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