Type Rapid transit Stations 12 Terminis Saint-Michel, Snowdon | System Montreal Metro Opened June 16, 1986 | |
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Locale Montreal, (QC), Canada. Operator(s) Société de transport de Montréal (STM) | ||
The Blue Line (French: Ligne bleue) is one of the four lines of the Montreal Metro in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was the fourth to be built, notwithstanding its alternate official name of "Line 5" (Line 3 was planned, but never built). Unlike the other three routes, the Blue Line does not serve the city's main Metro station, Berri-UQAM.
Contents
The line is served by a single yard located between Parc and de Castelnau stations which is completely underground and occupies a small portion underneath Jarry Park. Another service facility is located at the 500-metre end tracks following Snowdon station, but is rarely used by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM).
On September 20, 2013, a 7-km extension northeast to St. Leonard and Anjou was announced by the STM and the Quebec government. The extension is to include five new stations and is planned to be operational by 2020. On May 28, 2014, it was announced that the project would be reviewed in priorities after the new government took over, and that if accepted again, construction would start in 2017.
History
Construction of Snowdon station began in 1975, with two platform levels. In 1979, the provincial government decided to build the Blue Line. On June 16, 1986 the first section, between Saint-Michel to De Castelnau opened. This was followed by the section from De Castelnau to Parc on June 15, 1987 and Parc to Snowdon on January 4, 1988. The opening of the intermediate station Acadie was delayed for almost three months. It was finally opened on March 28, 1988. Other planned extensions at both ends of the route have so far been omitted due to financial reasons.
Future extensions
The Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT) published a study, Vision 2020, in December 2011. According to this, the Blue Line will be extended northeast of Saint-Michel to Anjou. There are a total of five planned new stations: Pie-IX, Viau, Lacordaire, Langelier, Anjou. The terminus would be located at the Galeries d'Anjou shopping centre, near the junction of Autoroute 25 and Autoroute 40. On September 20, 2013, the provincial government announced that the extension would proceed and committed $38.8 million to set up a "Project Office" tasked with preparing detailed financial and technical plans within two years.
Another proposed expansion involves extending the Blue Line southwest from Snowdon. This extension would serve Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Côte-Saint-Luc and Montreal West. This Metro extension has been put on hold indefinitely.
The Édouard-Montpetit station is located near the northern entrance of the Mount Royal Tunnel. Plans to link the station to the AMT's Deux-Montagnes line were not pursued because the height difference between the two levels is 50 metres. In April 2016, this interchange received renewed interest as part of the proposed Réseau électrique métropolitain, which will replace the Deux-Montagnes line with rapid light rail transit.