Short piece heralding the impending announcement of the first new tram route in the city since the 1950s. Initially they planned a loop around de la Commune, Berri and Peel, but this is pretty much the route of Fagstein's favourite bus route, the 515, which has been underused since it was launched. Duplicating it with a tram would not be smart, although that would depend whether they were thinking of the tram as a serious commuter option or a tourist toy.

If the former, a tram would be useful on several north-south axes – Park Avenue has been mentioned, but Pie-IX and Saint-Michel would have a claim on it too, being farther away from a metro line and with perennially crowded buses demonstrating a ridership already exists. Something tells me that the city administration won't want to put its shiny new toy so far away from downtown where visitors would seldom see it, although the breadth of Pie-IX and the presence of an already existing (although disused) bus corridor would make it a good choice, and it would at least go past the Botanical Gardens and Olympic stadium as a showpiece.

Another obvious busy route would be from Vendôme metro to Montreal West, but there's little chance that part of town will be first to be blessed by the tram fairy. Côte-des-Neiges has been mentioned too, but I'm betting they won't want to build the first tram up the hill. It has to be somewhere useful but showy and it can't reasonably duplicate a metro line.

If they dig up the Main again there'll be an uprising. posted at 09:33