It has expanded since its opening from 22 stations on two lines to 68 stations on four lines totalling 69.2 kilometres (43.0 mi) in length,[5][6] serving the north, east and centre of the Island of Montreal with connections to Longueuil, via the Yellow Line, and Laval, via the Orange Line.
The Montreal Metro is Canada's busiest rapid transit system in terms of daily ridership, delivering an average of 1,046,300 daily unlinked passenger trips per weekday as of the fourth quarter of 2023.[7] It is North America's third busiest rapid transit system, behind the New York City Subway and Mexico City Metro. In 2023, 303,969,500 trips on the Metro were completed.[7] With the Metro and the newer driverless, steel-wheeled Rseau express mtropolitain, Montreal has one of North America's largest urban rapid transit systems, attracting the second-highest ridership per capita behind New York City.[8]
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Urban transit began in Montreal in 1861 when a line of horse-drawn cars started to operate on Craig (now St-Antoine) and Notre-Dame streets. Eventually, as the city grew, a comprehensive network of streetcar lines provided service almost everywhere. But urban congestion started to take its toll on streetcar punctuality, so the idea of an underground system was soon considered.[9]
Starting in 1910, many proposals were tabled but the Montreal Metro would prove to be an elusive goal. First, the Montreal Street Railway Company, the Montreal Central Terminal Company and the Montreal Underground and Elevated Railway Company undertook fruitless negotiations with the city.[9] Then a year later, the Comptoir Financier Franco-Canadien and the Montreal Tunnel Company proposed tunnels under the city centre and the Saint-Lawrence River to link the emerging South Shore neighbourhoods but faced the opposition of railway companies.[10] The Montreal Tramways Company (MTC) was the first to receive the approval of the provincial government in 1913 and four years to start construction.[11] The reluctance of elected city officials to advance funds foiled this first attempt.
The issue of a subway remained present in the newspapers but World War I and the following recession hitting Montreal prevented any execution. The gradual return of the financial health during the 1920s brought the MTC project back and attracted support from the Premier of Quebec.[9] The Great Depression, indebting Montreal again and atrophying its streetcars attendance, overcame this new attempt and the next devised by Mayor Camillien Houde in 1939 as a way to provide work for the jobless masses.[12]
World War II and the war effort in Montreal resurrected trams crowding. In 1944, the MTC proposed a two-line network, one line running underneath Saint Catherine Street, the other under Saint Denis and Notre-Dame and Saint Jacques Streets.[13] In 1953 the newly formed public Montreal Transportation Commission replaced streetcars by buses and proposed a single subway line reusing the 1944 plans and extending it all the way to Boulevard Crmazie, right by the D'Youville maintenance shops.[14] By this point, construction was already well underway on Canada's first subway line in Toronto under Yonge Street, which would be opened in 1954. Still, Montreal councillors remained cautious and no work was initiated. For some of them, including Jean Drapeau during his first municipal term, public transit was a thing of the past.[12]
In 1959, a private company, the Socit d'expansion mtropolitaine, offered to build a rubber-tired metro but the Transportation Commission wanted its own network and rejected the offer.[15] This was the last missed opportunity, for the re-election of Jean Drapeau as mayor and the arrival of his right-hand man, Lucien Saulnier, changed everything. In the early 1960s, the western world experienced an economic boom and Quebec underwent its Quiet Revolution. From August 1, 1960, many municipal services were reviewing the project and on November 3, 1961, the Montreal City Council voted appropriations amounting to $132 million ($1.06 billion in 2016) to construct and equip an initial network 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) in length.[14]
The 1961 plan reused several previous studies and planned three lines carved into the rock under the city centre to the most populated areas of the city. The City of Montreal (and its chief engineer Lucien L'Allier) were assisted in the detailed design and engineering of the Metro by French consultant SOFRETU, owned by the operator of the Paris Mtro.[16] The French influence is clearly seen in the station design and rolling stock of the Metro.[17] Rubber tires were chosen instead of steel ones, following the Parisian influence - as the rubber tired trains could use steeper grades and accelerate faster.[18] 80% of the tunnels were built through rock, as opposed to the traditional cut-and-cover method used for the construction of the Yonge Subway in Toronto.[18]
The main line, or Line 1 (Green Line) was to pass between the two most important arteries, Saint Catherine and Sherbrooke streets, more or less under the De Maisonneuve Boulevard. It would extend between the English-speaking west at Atwater station and French-speaking east at Frontenac. Line 2 (Orange Line) was to run from north of the downtown, from Crmazie station through various residential neighbourhoods to the business district at Place-d'Armes station.
Construction of the first two lines began May 23, 1962,[19] under the supervision of the Director of Public Works, Lucien L'Allier. On June 11, 1963, the construction costs for tunnels being lower than expected, Line 2 (Orange Line) was extended by two stations at each end and the new termini became the Henri-Bourassa and Bonaventure stations.[18] The project, which employed more than 5,000 workers at its height, and cost the lives of 12 of them, ended on October 14, 1966. The service was opened gradually between October 1966 and April 1967 as the stations were completed.
A third line was planned. It was to use Canadian National Railway (CN) tracks passing under the Mount Royal to reach the northwest suburb of Cartierville from the city centre. Unlike the previous two lines, trains were to be partly running above ground. Negotiations with the CN and municipalities were stalling as Montreal was chosen in November 1962 to hold the 1967 Universal Exposition (Expo 67). Having to make a choice, the city decided that a number 4 line (Yellow Line) linking Montreal to the South Shore suburbs following a plan similar to those proposed early in the 20th century was more necessary.[20]
Line 3 was never built and the number was never used again. The railway, already used for a commuter train to the North Shore at Deux-Montagnes, was completely renovated in the early 1990s and effectively replaced the planned third line. The next line would thus be numbered 5 (Blue Line). Subsequently, elements of the line, particularly the Deux-Montagnes commuter train, became the first line of the Rseau Express Mtropolitain.
The Montreal municipal administration asked municipalities of the South Shore of the Saint Lawrence River which one would be interested in the Metro and Longueuil got the link. Line 4 (Yellow Line) would therefore pass under the river, from Berri-de-Montigny station, junction of Line 1 (Green Line) and Line 2 (Orange Line), to Longueuil.[18] A stop was added in between to access the site of Expo 67, built on two islands of the Hochelaga Archipelago in the river. Saint Helen's Island, on which the station of the same name was built, was massively enlarged and consolidated with several nearby islands (including Ronde Island) using backfill excavated during the construction of the Metro. Notre Dame Island, adjacent, was created from scratch with the same material. Line 4 (Yellow Line) was completed on April 1, 1967, in time for the opening of the World's Fair.[20]
The first Metro network was completed with the public opening of Line 4 (Yellow Line) on April 28, 1967. The cities of Montreal, Longueuil and Westmount had assumed the entire cost of construction and equipment of $213.7 million ($1.6 billion in 2016). Montreal became the seventh city in North America to operate a subway. The 1960s being very optimistic years, Metro planning did not escape the general exuberance of the time, and a 1967 study, "Horizon 2000",[21] imagined a network of 160 kilometres (99 mi) of tunnels for the year 2000.[22]
In 1970, the Montreal Urban Community (MUC) was created. This group was made of municipalities that occupy the Island of Montreal and the city of Montreal was the biggest participant. MUC's mission was to provide standardized services at a regional level, one of them being transportation. The MUC Transportation Commission was thus created at the same time to serve as prime contractor for the Metro extensions. It merged all island transport companies and became the Socit de transport de la communaut urbaine de Montral (STCUM) in 1985 and then the Socit de transport de Montral (STM) in 2002.
The work on the extensions started October 14, 1971, with Line 1 (Green Line) towards the east to reach the site where the Olympic Stadium was to be built and Autoroute 25 (Honor-Beaugrand station) that could serve as a transfer point for visitors arriving from outside. The extensions were an opportunity to make improvements to the network, such as new trains, larger stations and even semi-automatic control. The first extension was completed in June 1976 just before the Olympics. Line 1 (Green Line) was later extended to the southwest to reach the suburbs of Verdun and LaSalle with the Angrignon as the terminus station, named after the park and zoo. This segment opened at September 1978.
In the process, further extensions were planned and in 1975 spending was expected to reach reached $1.6 billion ($7.3 billion in 2016). Faced with these soaring costs, the Government of Quebec declared a moratorium May 19, 1976, to the all-out expansion desired by Mayor Jean Drapeau. Tenders were frozen, including those of Line 2 (Orange Line) after the Snowdon station and those of Line 5 (Blue Line) whose works were yet already underway. A struggle then ensued between the MUC and the Government of Quebec as any extension could not be done without the agreement of both parties. The Montreal Transportation Office might have tried to put the government in front of a fait accompli by awarding large contracts to build the tunnel between Namur station and the Bois-Franc station just before the moratorium was in force.[23] 152ee80cbc
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