The STM is charging ahead with the extension of the blue line, which will eventually bring the Montreal metro to the east end boroughs of Saint-Léonard and Anjou. Beginning the week of August 29, the transit company is moving into the next phase of work, turning parts of rue Jean-Talon and boulevard Viau into an eight-metre-deep pit so crews can reroute sewer, water and electrical lines to make way for the eventual construction of a new station.
It seems like we report on this every year, but once again, there are definitive plans to extend the Montreal Blue line further east. Minister for Transport and Minister Responsible for the Montreal Region Chantal Rouleau announced a revised plan for five additional metro stations on March 18."The blue line will go to Anjou," Rouleau said. "The project has been enhanced to open up an entire population who will now have access to a public transit system worthy of the name."
Montreal loves to trumpet its difference from the rest of the cities in North America and for good reason (usually). But why does that difference have to extend to the very components of our metro system?A look back at discussions around the planning of the metro system in the 1960s offers at least some insight into the seemingly peculiar use of rubber tires on the Montreal metro.