13:56 on 2012/02/27 Reply  

• Chris 14:11 on 2012/02/27 Permalink

  $1.3 billion is a lot of money… still lots less than what the province spends *per year* on roadways ($3.9 billion).

• David Tighe 15:50 on 2012/02/27 Permalink

  It appears that Montréal, despite its modest airport, will be the only city in North America to have an exclusive link between it and the centre. In fact, not that many European airports have one either, for the obvious reason that it cannot be economically viable without very large numbers of passengers paying a very high fare. Normally, an airport train is integrated within the suburban system with obvious synergy benefits (considerable here given the primitive suburban network). If this project goes ahead, it will be one of the most wasteful politically-motivated projects ever. Moreover, it will divert funds from the inadequate suburban network for many years.

• Marc 16:49 on 2012/02/27 Permalink

  Rapid transit to YUL should be integrated into an existing line just as it is in, off the top of my head, Vancouver, Cleveland, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington DC, San Francisco.

• ant6n 17:06 on 2012/02/27 Permalink

  Is there anybody who thinks two trains is a good idea, except the Aeroports de montreal?

• Dan G 17:55 on 2012/02/27 Permalink

  @Marc so true. and don’t forget Newark, JFK, Minneapolis, Dallas, Baltimore, Portland, Burbank & St. Louis, all of which are accessible by non-exclusive rail lines.

• Marc 19:16 on 2012/02/27 Permalink

  Add to that Philadelphia. Why I left that one out is beyond me since I used it last year. oops.

• Steve Quilliam 01:20 on 2012/02/28 Permalink

  I have to side with the PQ on that one. Two projects is not reasonable and not necessary. 1 project that will serve the West Island as well as the Airport plus 2 or 3 stops beetwen the airport and downtown should be good enough for everyone.

  In the list of cities you guys mentionned could have also been London, Paris, Brussels, Madrid and Moscow etc… They all have several stops beetwen downtown and the airport. At least they had when i was there.

• Faiz Imam 04:13 on 2012/02/28 Permalink

  A couple years back, Fagstein did a very good job comparing both proposals.

  back then there was no “train de l’ouest” it was just a plan to use the AMT tracks for an airport connection. But its worth reading to get a feel for the issues that have divided stakeholders thus far, many of them are quite legitimate.

  http://blog.fagstein.com/2010/05/19/airport-train/

• ant6n 10:37 on 2012/02/28 Permalink

  It seems that ADM wants a direct connection to gare centrale because they surveyed some people who preferred the sound of of that. Is that a legitimate stake? Or put another way, has ADM any legitimate stake to dictate transportation policy?

• David Tighe 11:23 on 2012/02/28 Permalink

  To those cities with integrated rail service I add Paris and both London Gatwick and Heathrow, much busier airports by many orders of magnitude. It is horrible to see how economic and social feasibility can be thrown aside here when it is a question of politics.

• Faiz Imam 16:15 on 2012/02/28 Permalink

  As far as traditional transportation policy is understood, the ADM has no legitimacy. They are the same as any other private entity that wishes for certain transportation projects, such as stadiums or industrial/commercial parks. They have simply put up a significant amount of money forward and have sold the idea of a “gateway” from the airport to the city to certain politicians.

  I really hope the projects are consolidated, I think the expansion of the “train de l’ouest” concept has been very positive. Timeline and budget notwithstanding, it seems like an inevitability. And thus having a second parallel track will seem more absurd by the day.

  I would love to see Central Station be expanded as much as anyone, but there are too many issues that make this unfeasible. I just hope that this consolidation happens quickly, because if the ADM would be willing to add their $200 million to train de l’ouest, it would solve many of its current problems.

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