{"id":377,"date":"2008-01-07T13:09:04","date_gmt":"2008-01-07T17:09:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingmontreal.ca\/?p=377"},"modified":"2013-01-21T11:05:32","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T16:05:32","slug":"should-the-blue-line-be-converted-into-a-subwaysurface-tram-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2008\/01\/07\/should-the-blue-line-be-converted-into-a-subwaysurface-tram-line\/","title":{"rendered":"Should the blue line be converted into a subway\/surface tram line?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\nUnderground trams in Boston’s Green Line<\/i><\/p>\n

Today’s Gazette reports that the Montreal agglomeration council’s transportation committee is studying a proposal by UQAM doctoral student Pierre Barrieau to convert the metro’s blue line<\/a> into an subway\/surface tram line. More detail<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Barrieau suggests replacing the m\u00e9tro cars that now run on the Blue Line with new tramway cars that would run inside the m\u00e9tro tunnel, then surface at either end and continue on above-ground lines that could be laid at a fraction of the cost of digging more tunnel.<\/p>\n

Barrieau says that for the $945-million price tag to extend the m\u00e9tro’s Blue Line five kilometres underground to Anjou, as proposed in Tremblay’s plan, the city could renovate the 9.7 kilometres of the Blue Line tunnel to accommodate a tramway and add more than 40 kilometres of above-ground tramway.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So far, it’s just an idea, but one that seems to have impressed the transportation committee. They will now be considering its feasibility alongside other blue line extension options. <\/p>\n

Subway\/surface tramways are common in many parts of the world, where they serve as intermediaries between the metro and tram systems. In France and Belgium, they’re known as pr\u00e9m\u00e9tro lines. In Germany, they’re called stadtbahn<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Closer to home, Boston’s Green Line<\/a> is a pr\u00e9m\u00e9tro par excellence, transporting more than 250,000 people per day on trams that run along the surface in the city’s western suburbs and in tunnels through the city centre. Even Toronto has a pr\u00e9m\u00e9tro: the Spadina LRT<\/a> runs on Spadina Avenue and Queens Quay before making stops at three underground stations.<\/p>\n

Usually, though, it’s ordinary tram lines, not existing metro lines, that are converted into pr\u00e9m\u00e9tros. Although the obvious advantage of Barrieau’s plan would be the cheap and quick expansion of rapid transit, what would be its impact on service along the existing blue line? Light rail<\/a> trains are invariably smaller and shorter than metro<\/a> trains, which means they hold fewer people. The blue line still runs shorter trains than the rest of the metro system (six cars compared to nine cars on the green, orange and yellow lines), but at least its current configuration affords it the possibility of substantially increasing its capacity. <\/p>\n

Still, Barrieau’s plan is innovative. If it can work without compromising the effectiveness of the existing blue line, why not? The sooner that Montreal’s farther-flung neighbourhoods are served by rapid transit, the better. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Underground trams in Boston’s Green Line Today’s Gazette reports that the Montreal agglomeration council’s transportation committee is studying a proposal by UQAM doctoral student Pierre Barrieau to convert the metro’s blue line into an subway\/surface tram line. More detail: Barrieau suggests replacing the m\u00e9tro cars that now run on the Blue Line with new tramwayContinue reading “Should the blue line be converted into a subway\/surface tram line?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7840,33],"tags":[1240,1422,1066,8,510,493,957,125,1425,152,1423,1424,302],"class_list":["post-377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-transit","tag-belgium","tag-blue-line-tunnel","tag-boston","tag-city-hall","tag-france","tag-germany","tag-green-line","tag-montreal","tag-pierre-barrieau","tag-toronto","tag-tram-systems","tag-transportation-committee","tag-usd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nShould the blue line be converted into a subway\/surface tram line? - Spacing Montreal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2008\/01\/07\/should-the-blue-line-be-converted-into-a-subwaysurface-tram-line\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Should the blue line be converted into a subway\/surface tram line? - Spacing Montreal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Underground trams in Boston’s Green Line Today’s Gazette reports that the Montreal agglomeration council’s transportation committee is studying a proposal by UQAM doctoral student Pierre Barrieau to convert the metro’s blue line into an subway\/surface tram line. 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