La Presse marks a year since the definitive report on the need to replace the Champlain bridge with a sheaf of stories and images including the results of a juried challenge issued to architecture students. Thoughts on the requirement for the bridge to be green are backed up by ideas for mixed use. Images from submitted projects are accompanied by a set of striking images of outstanding worldwide bridges old and new.
Updates from March, 2012 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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It’s a quiet news weekend, Quel Avenir simply returning to the Azur, Boomerang, Kronos, Véga, Zéphyr question.
I’m sort of looking forward to the new trains but the very knowledge they’re coming is making me feel a bit sentimental about our existing trains, which have such a nice retro-future feel. The image above is kyped from Tumblr and shows a train at Angrignon in 1980.
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Chris E
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AJ
At the risk of repeating comments over at the other site, wow – do we need names for these things at all? It gives a veneer of citizen input, when there really should be more regular citizens forums to help guide the STM to make their services more responsive, useful and usable.
On the names themselves: Vega was the enemy planet in Goldorak, so no. Kronos ate his children, so very no. Boomerang is the name of the local web-studio awards. Azur to me says South of France, Zephyr is just kinda meh.
The idea of invoking First Nations legends is good. Personally, given Montrealers’ love of sweet confections, I would name it “Le Whippet.”
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ant6n
Zephyr is already the name of a train.
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Robert J
Lignes d’azur is the name of Nice’s bus and tram service.
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Kate
I love “Le Whippet” but it would have to be painted dark brown outside, beige and white inside.
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Janet
And with really cushy seats.
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Bill Binns
I think the current trains are fine. I could think of a whole lot of improvements to the metro that i would like to see before new trains (or elevators for that matter). I can’t imagine the new ones are going to be all that different from the passenger’s perspective.
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Kate
The current trains are old, Bill Binns. They’re lovingly kept running by the STM – I’ve seen the workshop where they do this – but they’re so old that the STM has to machine some of their own spare parts now because they can’t be sourced any more. The STM does a truly amazing job keeping those trains operational and safe, I totally have to hand it to them for that. But they’ve already spent millions upgrading them and maintaining them and – as with any old vehicle – there comes a moment when it’s not good sense to keep throwing money at them any more.
The new trains are bound to be more energy efficient and they’re going to be all in one piece, which means better crowd circulation and better ventilation. But mostly, they will be new. Ask anyone at the STM – it really is time.
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ant6n
probably going to be much quieter, too. Montrealers don’t believe it, but our metro is loud.
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Kate
I think people here will have experienced the clanking New York subway or London tube and still feel our system is quiet by comparison because of the rubber wheels.
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Bill Binns
Kate – I had not heard that the trains would be open on the inside allowing passengers to move from one car to the next. That is good news and a solid improvement.
@ant6n – Not sure. I was on the NY Subway last year and the sound seemed deafening. Not just the volume of noise be the screeching and squealing of steel wheels on steel tracks. This really made me see the wisdom of Montreal rubber tire system.
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Kate
Stand on a Montreal platform and put on a podcast or some music at a moderate volume on some earphones. When a train comes through on the far side, you won’t be able to hear what you’re listening to. The wheels don’t make much noise here, but the trains themselves, as @ant6n says, are noisier than we tend to think, especially from outside.
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Chris E
The new trains will also increase capacity by about 13% (due to the increased space opened up between trains and the elimination of a door on each side in each car) which will be appreciated by everyone during rush hours.
The Montreal Metro is running the oldest trains of any system in the world. It was the second oldest until a couple years ago until Pyongyang bought some used Soviet-era trains from Russia. We need new trains.
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Some CEGEP and university professors are lending their support to the student strike and some are even considering walking out on March 22, the date for a big planned demo in Montreal.
The City of Montreal is even beginning to put pressure on Quebec to make a move that would keep the “cat and mouse” demos off the streets, although it’s stopping short of asking the province to do what the students want.
Le Devoir inquires into the profound shift in the whole purpose of the university in Quebec over the last two decades, from a cradle of liberal education to a neoliberal domain where corporate needs and money dictate priorities. Not entirely dissimilar thoughts from a McGill Daily writer.
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As this is the weekend to spring the clocks forward, the fire department is also issuing a reminder to make sure you have a working smoke alarm in your house or apartment.
It’s too bad the trains have lost their orange seats over the years.