CTV News Montreal

Updated: Mon Feb. 14 2011 10:16:44 PM

ctvmontreal.ca

MONTREAL — The provincial government is throwing its support behind improving commuter train service to Montreal's West Island, in a plan that appears to be at odds with a project preferred by the Aeroports de Montreal.

Several ministers were present Monday as the government announced it would immediately fund a $22-million engineering study of the line preferred by the Metropolitan Transit Agency (AMT), which runs trains from Lucien L'Allier station to Vaudreuil-Dorion.

The 18-month study will draft a design for two new tracks parallel to the train corridor that is currently used for commuter and freight trains.

The current proposal endorsed by the provincial government calls for trains to run between 5:30 and midnight every day, with trains every 12 minutes during peak hours, and every 30 minutes outside of rush hour.

That would be a huge improvement over current train service, which is extremely spotty outside of rush hour.

The AMT hopes to use existing stations between Lachine and Ste. Anne de Bellevue, and wants to have everything completed and ready to take on passengers by 2015.

Clifford Lincoln, former MNA and MP for the West Island, has been one of the local politicians lobbying for a new commuter train line.

He says this is a good first step for the government, but he wants tracks ready by even earlier.

"It's not a feasibility study, it's an engineering study-concept so we appreciate that this has got to be done," said Lincoln.

"Once this is done we are full steam ahead and we're just going to push and push for it to be completed by 2014."

Lincoln says a new train line is desperately needed, especially with the constant repair work taking place along the Highway 20 corridor and the impending reconstruction of the Turcot interchange.

Squabble over train tracks

For the past few years the AMT and the agency that runs Trudeau International Airport (ADM) have been arguing about the best way to improve train service between downtown Montreal, Dorval, and the West Island.

Last year, the ADM said it was willing to support a $600 million project to run a train shuttle from the airport to Central Station, with no stops in between, and that the provincial government was willing to provide $200 million in funding.

For its part, the AMT said it preferred using the existing stations and train corridor, with the downtown terminal being Lucien L'Allier station.

Comments are now closed for this story

EG
yeah and why not bring the metro out to the west island, I would rather see the 22 million go towards that than a bunch of jerks spending 18 months sitting around a table thinking about what they do to improve the situation!

EG
Living in Vaudreuil, I would like to see the train take me downtown 20-30 minutes quicker.. I'd even be willing to pay more for a pass that cut out half of the stops... I mean seriously... beurepaire?? what is there like 3 people that live there? cedar park? 4 stations between ile perrot and vaudreuil? That or dedicated bus lanes and a bus service to downtown during rush hour would be interesting.... 3 hours of travel a day for 142$ a month is hard and it would be nice if the AMT would offer something helpful!

Mike
This will help but it's not enough. It's time to extend the Metro's Orange line to Fairview, the Green line to the airport and the Blue line through NDG and Montreal West into Cote St-Luc.

chantal
it's not just a question of adding more tracks and more trains, it's also a question of creating congestion at the intersections where these trains pass. I live in Montreal West and trying to cross Westminster at rush hour is already chaotics because of the trains passing. A train passing every 12 min?? With trains passing in both directions it will be impossible to cross Westminster or turn from Sherbrooke. The city has already said they need to look into burying the tracks and make the trains pass under the road. And I'm sure the Montreal West station is not the only problematic area.

John
I think the problem here is the terminology.
It's not a 'see if this will work' study. It's a 'make the damn blueprints already' study.

Hugh Nugent
What do these buffoons need to study? There is a need to drastically improve the service.

This is so like the Quebec way, spend millions to have a group of so called experts tell us what we already know!

Lula
22 million !!! for a study???
Just go to Switzerland(cheaper) and see how they do it. Trains are always running and on time!! They have the same weather concerns as we do, so what is the problem? It's already being done or are we soooo ignorant ??

Wally from Montreal
Annex to previous comment: When i said stupids I meant the politicos and NOT the engineers. LOL...

John
A colosal waste of taxpayers money,,,Why not pay 2 or 3 engineers $150,000 each and get the same reslult.. Here's an idea ..Have a schedule every half hour from 6am to midnight (add more an extra train for concerts and other event) , with some mini vans for some of the other outlining areas...

Gee I could have made $22,000,000...!!!

EMMANUEL
Great idea to improve public transit to the west island , but instead of creating more debt ,why don't you ( city of montreal ) be more pro-active and improve on the transit you have going right now ? - Let me ask you MR TREMBLAY ? are you making any money on the 747 BUS ROUTE TO THE AIRPORT ? - I took it for a spin once ,paid my 7$ just to see what all the commotion was about ? I was the only one on the bus , I felt like ONASSIS in a private 42 seat LIMO ,except there was no bar ,and no PHONE OR DVD PLAYER . Also ? - Why not increase the frequency of the 215 that runs from FAIRVIEW TO METRO VERTU and runs once every hour and make it run every 17 minutes ? during rush hour ,and 23 minutes in off peak hours ? That would be cheaper than extending the metro ?? no ?? YES .

Wally from Montreal
MMM Study,study,study, ok when is the test or exam taking place? Just build the dam line stupids, instead of wasting another 20 million of our money. By the time it's built, these stupids will be 6 feet under and a lot more intelligent because of it. Metro, forgetaboutit, where are they supose to put all the rock, build another island? How about an elevated train line??? electro-magnetic no noise, no snow, no flooding... technology is there.

John
Metro? Get real.
It'll cost $600 to 750 million for a train line to Ste. Anne's.

For that price you'd get a metro line to Montreal West.

Jacob Kasperowicz
$22 million for an 18mth study which will conclude that further studies are required. In the interim, the next provincial election will offer a landslide for the PQ. Result, bye bye commuter train palns.

Craig Nolan
It's time to expand the Metro service to the West-Island, this is a $22M waste.

ESL
That's great, but what about the people who are using the Deux-Montagnes line. We have trains with doors that don't open and break down at any given time. I am glad we are funding services we can't take advantage of.

EVA
What don't they all understand...what the West Island really needs is better bus service and the METRO...more trains would not hurt either.