Mascouche line
Mascouche is a commuter railway line in Greater Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is operated by Exo, the organization that operates public transport services across this region.
Opened on December 1, 2014 by Exo's predecessor agency, the Agence Métropolitaine de transport, the Montreal region's 6th commuter train line required the construction of 10 new train stations, several civil engineering structures and 13 km of new railway track. This includes some track in the median of the A 40 between Repentigny and Mascouche
Beginning on May 11, 2020, the Mascouche line was rerouted around the Mount Royal Tunnel, bypassing and stations due to the construction of the Réseau express métropolitain. In 2022, will open as the Mascouche line's new southern terminus, replacing. Riders wishing to reach Central Station can transfer to the REM at Côte-de-Liesse.
Overview
The line was announced as the Repentigny-Mascouche line in a press conference on March 17, 2006, and follows a major campaign by the residents of eastern Montréal and the north-eastern suburbs to restore commuter rail service.The line uses the Mount Royal Tunnel and Canadian National track from Montreal's Central Station to Repentigny. New track was built from Repentigny to Terrebonne along the Quebec Autoroute 640, before turning towards the Trois-Rivières Subdivision of the Chemins de fer Québec-Gatineau at Mascouche. Most of the route, in particular the section after Mont-Royal to Repentigny, follows a similar path to the never-built Line 6 of the Montreal Metro, which was planned as a steel-wheeled "regional metro" line using a somewhat similar alignment. The journey time between Mascouche and downtown Montreal is 61 minutes.
Originally estimated at $300 million and expected to open in 2008, the line costed $670 million and opened in 2014. It has 13 stops and offers eight departures in each direction per weekday, mainly during rush-hour.
Locomotives
On May 14, 2007, the former Agence métropolitaine de transport and New Jersey Transit put out a joint call for tenders to purchase dual-powered locomotives. In Montreal, the locomotives switch to electric power at Mont-Royal to enter Mount Royal Tunnel to Central Station. This international project is the first of its kind in North America. Twenty locomotives of type ALP-45DP were delivered to the AMT from Bombardier Transportation. They now haul the RTM's 3000-series Bombardier MultiLevel coaches, in groups of 5 or 6 cars.History
Two former commuter train lines ran along part of the route of the line.CN Montreal North commuter line
CN operated a commuter service from Central Station to Montreal North from 1946 until November 8, 1968. An electric locomotive and several coaches ran one round trip a day in each direction, in rush hours only. Stations going east along the CN St Laurent Subdivision from Eastern Junction where it meets the Deux-Montagnes line were:- Boulevard, at boulevard St. Laurent, which divides Montreal into East and West
- Ahuntsic, site of current VIA Rail station
- Sault-au-Récollet, near rue d'Iberville
- St. Vital, at boulevard St. Michel
- Pie-IX, at boulevard Pie-IX
- Ste. Gertrude, at boulevard Ste. Gertrude
- Montreal North, at boulevard Lacordaire
Métropolitrain
A temporary service dubbed the "Métropolitrain" was organized by the STCUM from May 15 to October 12, 1990, while Autoroute 40, the boulevard Métropolitain, was being rebuilt. It ran on then-Canadian National track from near the Du Collège metro station to Repentigny with an intermediate station near the Sauvé Metro station. Two trips ran each way in each weekday rush hour. There was no direct service to central Montreal. As there was no existing regional transit coordinator at the time, the line was never very successful.Stations:
- Ste-Croix and St-Louis
- Ahuntsic railway station
- Saint-Leonard, at boulevard Lacordaire
- Rivière des Prairies
- Pointe-aux-Trembles
- Repentigny
Exo service
On June 1, 2017, the AMT was dissolved and replaced by two new governing bodies, the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain and the Réseau de transport métropolitain. The RTM took over all former AMT services, including this line. In May 2018, the RTM rebranded itself as Exo, and rebranded each line with a number and updated colour. The Mascouche line became Exo 5, and its line colour was updated to a lighter pastel shade of purple.
Since May 11, 2020, the Mascouche line has temporarily terminated at Ahuntsic station due to the ongoing conversion of the Deux-Montagnes line into the mainline of the Réseau express métropolitain light rail system. Once the downtown section of the REM is completed sometime in 2022, a new station called will open, expressly designed to ensure smooth transfer of users between the Mascouche line and the REM, and replacing Ahuntsic station as the line's new terminus.
List of stations
There are 11 current stations on the Mascouche line:| Station | Location | Connections | Zones |
| Central Station | Borough of Ville-Marie | Amtrak Downtown Terminus Bonaventure Metro station Buses Public transit connections | 1 |
| Canora | Boundary between the town of Mount-Royal and the borough of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce | STM: 92, 160 | 1 |
| Mont-Royal | Town of Mount-Royal | STM: 16, 119, 165, 465 | 1 |
| Ahuntsic | Borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville | STM: 19, 54, 121, 179 Within stiff walking distance of the Saint-Jérôme line | 1 |
| Sauvé | Borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville | Sauvé Metro station | 1 |
| Saint-Michel-Montréal-Nord | Boroughs of Montréal-Nord and Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension | STM: 39, 41, 139, 439, 440 | 2 |
| Saint-Léonard-Montréal-Nord | Boroughs of Montréal-Nord and Saint-Léonard | STM: 32, 33, 136, 432 | 2 |
| Anjou | Borough of Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles | STM: 40 | 3 |
| Rivière-des-Prairies | Borough of Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles | STM: 48, 49, 81, 428, 449 | 3 |
| Pointe-aux-Trembles | Borough of Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles | STM: 186, 410, 430, 486, 487 | 3 |
| Repentigny | Repentigny | Exo: 5, 9, 11, 14, 100 | 5 |
| Terrebonne | Terrebonne | Exo: 140, 440 | 5 |
| Mascouche | Mascouche | Exo: 2, 3, 403, 417, 418, 427 | 6 |
Criticism of route
Most observers agree that the proposed route from Montreal to Repentigny makes sense for several reasons, including the use of existing infrastructure. The route from Repentigny to Mascouche has been criticized for several reasons, including:- The need to build 12 km of track from Repentigny to Mascouche.
- In the Le Gardeur sector of Repentigny, the new track passes very close to a large General Dynamics munitions plant, where explosives are stored and processed. Both GD and Natural Resources Canada, which regulates explosives in Canada, have raised safety and security issues. EXO has built a large canopied shelter wall and berm between tracks and plant.
- The route does not serve cities east of Repentigny, particularly L'Assomption and Joliette. Those cities have bus service to Repentigny.
- Some say that the RTM could serve Mascouche more cheaply, easily, and quickly by using the CP line that leaves the Saint-Jérôme line at St. Martin Junction in Laval, also serving the eastern part of that city.