| Agence métropolitaine de transport | |||
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A Two-level rail coach. |
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| Info | |||
| Locale | Greater Montreal | ||
| Transit type | Commuter rail bus service |
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| Number of lines | 5[1] | ||
| Number of stations | 51 rail 19 bus + numerous stops[1] |
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| Daily ridership | 72,400 (all modes)[2] - 66,300 (train) - 6,100 (bus) |
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| Annual ridership | 16,876,300 (2010)[2] | ||
| Chief executive | Joël Gauthier | ||
| Headquarters | 700 rue de la Gauchetière, Montreal, Quebec | ||
| Website | AMT.qc.ca | ||
| Operation | |||
| Began operation | January 1, 1996 | ||
| Operator(s) | Montrain | ||
| Reporting marks | AMT | ||
| Number of vehicles | 39 locomotives 223 coaches [1] |
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| Technical | |||
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The Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT; English: Metropolitan Transportation Agency) (reporting mark AMT) is the umbrella organization that plans, integrates, and coordinates public transportation services across Canada's Greater Montreal Region, including the Island of Montreal, Laval (Île Jésus), and communities along both the North Shore of the Rivière des Mille-Îles and the South Shore of the St. Lawrence River. It was created in 1996, replacing the STCUM's commuter rail service. The AMT operates Montreal's commuter rail and express bus services.
AMT's territory spans 63 municipalities and one native reserve, 13 regional county municipalities, and 21 transit authorities. It serves a population of approximately 3.7 million people who make more than 750,000 trips daily in the 4258.97 km2 area radiating from the City of Montreal.
AMT's mandate includes the management of reserved (HOV) lanes, metropolitan terminuses, park-and-ride lots, and a budget of $163 million, which is shared amongst the transit corporations and inter-municipal public transit organizations. Apart from these essential services, AMT is also responsible for Montreal's commuter rail service, which links the downtown core with communities as far west as Hudson, as far east as Mont-Saint-Hilaire, and as far north as Saint-Jérôme.
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The AMT's commuter trains (trains de banlieue) are its highest-profile division. It has two types of trains: electric multiple unit (EMU) trains, used on the Deux-Montagnes Line, and diesel-electric push-pull trains, used on all the others. The Deux-Montagnes line was electrified because of the 4.8 km (3.0 mi) long poorly ventilated tunnel to Central Station. Diesel trains through the tunnel were at one time restricted and are now prohibited. The AMT's Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Via Rail and Amtrak trains all back into Central Station.
The AMT commuter trains operate on tracks owned by Canadian National, Canadian Pacific and Quebec Gatineau Railway. The Deux-Montagnes and Mont-Saint-Hilaire lines run on CN trackage and operate out of Central Station, while the Dorion–Rigaud, Blainville–Saint-Jérôme, and Delson–Candiac lines run on CP trackage and operate out of Lucien L'Allier terminus, beside the historic Windsor Station. The Blainville–Saint-Jérôme line also runs on Quebec Gatineau Railway trackage and on the AMT's own trackage between Sainte-Thérèse and Saint-Jérôme.
The train lines are integrated with the bus and metro network maintained by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), or Montreal Transit Corporation.
The greater Montreal area is divided into 8 fare zones. Starting from downtown Montreal, they stretch outwards in all directions. The first three zones are within the cities of Montreal, Laval and Longueuil only. Zones 4 to 8 are circular around the centre of Montreal. This standardized fare zone means a user generally pays the same amount whether they travel by bus or by train. The commuter train fare system is based on the assumption that the user is travelling to or from downtown. It is the same price, for example, to travel within zone 3 or from zone 3 to zone 2 as opposed to travel from zone 3 to zone 1.
To use the train, passengers must have a validated TRAM ticket (Zone 1 to 3) or a TRAIN ticket (Zone 4 to 6). The difference between the tickets is that a TRAM ticket provides access to the Montreal Metro or STM buses without any additional payment. Regular users can get a TRAM Monthly Pass which allows for unlimited travel on any type of service within the zone indicated on the front of the card or a TRAIN monthly pass which is valid on the trains only. Tickets and passes for commuter trains are valid for any line, as long as travel is limited to the zone for which the ticket is purchased and is used within 120 minutes. Local bus tickets and passes are not valid on commuter trains. Fare inspectors sometimes check tickets, but there are no ticket barriers.
Following the introduction of the OPUS, smart card system tickets and passes are now sold by automated vending machines at each station. The machines accept cash, credit and debit cards. Purchases of more than $80 must be paid by cards. Tickets and passes are also sold at a few stores near the suburban stations. Consult the full list on the AMT's website.[3][4] Passes are valid for a calendar month, and are normally on sale from the 20th of the previous month to the 5th of their month of validity. Passengers can also subscribe to La TRAM Postale which automatically debits the passenger's bank account or credit card and the sends the monthly pass by mail.
The AMT has a variety of rolling stock ranging in date from the 1960s to 2005, originally acquiring rolling stock directly from the railways. There are total of 367 cars and locomotives in the fleet.
The 80 Hawker-Siddeley cars are in operation on all lines except the Deux-Montagnes line. There are two types of cars; the 100 (1000) series and the 200 (1200) series. The only difference is the 200 and 1200 series has high doors for use at Central Station and are only used on the Saint-Hilaire Line
The 24 Bombardier single-level cars are in operation exclusively on the Dorion–Rigaud line Line. These are the 700 series.
The 9 Canadian Vickers gallery cars were rebuilt from June 2005 to December 2006. They were returned to the Blainville–Saint-Jérôme Line with the introduction of service to Saint-Jérôme. They are the 900 series.
The 58 Bombardier electrics are exclusively used on the Deux-Montagnes line These are numbered in the 400s, and operate in married pairs (as only one car in each pair has motors).
The 22 new Bombardier bilevels are in operation on the Dorion–Rigaud line and Blainville line. Although originally planned to be part of the revitalization project for the Dorion–Rigaud line, a set was put on the Blainville line while older double-deckers from the 1970s are being rebuilt. These are numbered in the 2000s.
On December 18, 2007, the AMT announced it had awarded Bombardier a $386 million contract to build 160 multi-level commuter cars. These cars will be based on the multilevel series of NJ Transit, as opposed to the recent purchase of GO-style bilevel cars, and will be able to enter the Mount Royal Tunnel. NJ Transit has a similar technical requirement; Bombardier designed the cars to enter the North River Tunnels between NJ and NYC. They will be numbered in the 3000s.
Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific (CP) had long operated commuter trains in the Montreal area, but by the 1980s, their services had dwindled to one route each. The Société de transport de la communauté urbaine de Montréal (STCUM), or Montreal Urban Community Transportation Corporation (MUCTC), which already managed metro and bus services across the Island of Montreal, assumed management of CN's Deux-Montagnes commuter service and CP's Rigaud service in 1982 as the two railways began scaling back their services.
In 1997, management and financing of both lines was transferred to the newly-created AMT, which had been established to distribute funding and coordinate transportation planning among the numerous transit operators throughout the Greater Montreal Region. Later that year, the AMT inaugurated service between Blainville station and the Parc/Jean Talon train station in Montreal's Park Extension district, connecting to the metro at Parc . Originally, the service was designed to provide a temporary alternative for motorists from Laval and the North Shore of Montreal, while the Highway 117 Dufresne Bridge was being repaired. The service proved to be so popular that the AMT continued to fund it, and even extended a number of trains to the Lucien-L'Allier station downtown in 1999, and continues to provide off-peak daytime weekday service on this line. The service was extended further north to Saint-Jérôme in 2007.
In 2000, AMT inaugurated its service to McMasterville (which runs along a CN line), and later extended it to Mont-Saint-Hilaire in 2002.
In 2001, the AMT initiated a pilot project, launching service on a fifth line (using CP tracks) to Delson. This was later extended to Candiac in 2005. More information about the history of each line can be found in their respective articles.
The AMT runs one Metropolitan Express Bus.
The AMT runs one Trainbus.
The AMT carries about 72,400 passengers on a typical weekday — 66,300 on the trains and 6,100 by bus.[7]
| Number of Passenger Trips (2010) [2] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rail lines | |||
| Deux-Montagnes Line | 7,347,200 | ||
| Vaudreuil-Hudson Line | 3,421,700 | ||
| Blainville–Saint-Jérôme Line | 2,196,000 | ||
| Mont-Saint-Hilaire Line | 1,833,900 | ||
| Delson–Candiac Line | 672,900 | ||
| Subtotal — Rail lines | 15,471,700 | ||
| Bus routes | |||
| AMT Express Bus Service | 1,404,600 | ||
| Total — AMT System | 16,876,300 | ||
The AMT's future projects include:
To ease over-crowding on the Deux-Montagnes Line, there are plans to:
To improve service and attract new users to the popular Blainville-Saint-Jerome Line, there are plans to:
To increase service on the Vaudreuil-Hudson Line, there are plans to add dedicated tracks for commuter trains. The current tracks are used by the AMT under the permission from Canadian Pacific.
On July 1, 2010, service to Rigaud was discontinued, due to Rigaud's reluctance to pay annual fees; the rail line will end at Hudson.[11]
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