Montreal Subway
I love the Montreal Metro. Many a childhood memory (well from the age of 14 through 23 anyway) were spent getting around town by use of the subway and public transit.
It's been years since I've used the Metro, but not for lack of wanting to. It has more to do with the fact that, although I still live on the island of Montreal, I'm a 1 hr bus (express) ride away from the nearest Metro. Up until 3 years ago, I was actually living less than 10 minutes walk from a Metro station. Now that I live way off in the West Island, I find myself missing it.
I was pleasantly surprised that the City of Montreal announced yesterday that they were looking at extending many of the Metro lines. I thought to myself that this would be a "golden" opportunity for the City to finally throw a bone to the incredibly underserviced and often ignored West Island. Alas, it is not to be. Every extension is going everywhere else (North, South, and East) but not none inch closer to the West Island.
The major issue is that most of the improvements that are being bandied about for infrastructure and public transit service seem to be funnelled towards every area other than the West Island. The new trains on order are going to the East and Northern lines, whereas the older trains currently servicing thoses lines will be tossed over to the West Island lines. New Metro lines - same thing.
I sometimes wonder if an extension of the Montreal Metro to Quebec City is far more probable than a single stop further west....
It's been years since I've used the Metro, but not for lack of wanting to. It has more to do with the fact that, although I still live on the island of Montreal, I'm a 1 hr bus (express) ride away from the nearest Metro. Up until 3 years ago, I was actually living less than 10 minutes walk from a Metro station. Now that I live way off in the West Island, I find myself missing it.
I was pleasantly surprised that the City of Montreal announced yesterday that they were looking at extending many of the Metro lines. I thought to myself that this would be a "golden" opportunity for the City to finally throw a bone to the incredibly underserviced and often ignored West Island. Alas, it is not to be. Every extension is going everywhere else (North, South, and East) but not none inch closer to the West Island.
The major issue is that most of the improvements that are being bandied about for infrastructure and public transit service seem to be funnelled towards every area other than the West Island. The new trains on order are going to the East and Northern lines, whereas the older trains currently servicing thoses lines will be tossed over to the West Island lines. New Metro lines - same thing.
I sometimes wonder if an extension of the Montreal Metro to Quebec City is far more probable than a single stop further west....