Lien ferroviaire Centre ville - P.E.T. 500++ M$

[Habsfan]

Didn't the provincial gov't want ot place it on the South-shore??

[WestAust]

Quebec voulait l'aéroport a Drummondville, ca aurait été un flop aussi grand qu'à Mirabel sinon plus

[Maisonneuve]

I know what you mean internationaux,

 

I was in New York last month and I went to pick up some relatives at JFK coming from Barbados and that airport is really convoluted. It's so big it has it's on autoroute that takes you from one terminal to another (there are 9 terminals). Plus they have a skytrain which takes travelers between terminals. Coming back to Toronto, I flew out of LGA, and that airport was much less confusing. Sort of like a larger, less organized, but busier version of PET.

[Malek]

Malek this is a terrible argument on your behalf.

 

Mirabel was put in that location for reasons that were in context of the time, supersonic aircraft age / large noisy aircraft (old 747-100 / DC10 equipment), and large scale development planned for Montreal.

 

Three sites were considered, and the South Shore site was let go due to wind patterns.

There is nothing political about this, other than terrible execution by not only the federal govt (bad planning - bad forecasting), but the provincial govt (using this as an example to create a feud with teh federal govt to promote their agenda).

 

As somebody who is currently in the airlien industry, this is the common misconception. The federal government had stringent bilaterals in the 70s were NEARLY ALL INTERNATIONAL CARRIERS had to fly to Montreal in order to serve Canada.

 

Airlines like Aeroflot/Finnair/LOT Polish/Aer Lingus HAD to fly to Montreal, and had no rights to land in Toronto... if anything the federal government tried its absolute hardest to promote Montreal as the international gateway to Canadai rrespective of market demand.

 

well those are excellent points that I had no idea of, but frankly they might have been exagerated by the federal govt to push their own agenda. In any case, its now a big mess and we should put this behind us and have all the energy concentrated on one succesful airport.

[yarabundi]

Je ne savais pas non plus qu'un site sur la rive sud avait été envisagé. Il n'en reste pas moins que je continue à croire qu'on aurait dû continuer à promouvoir le développement de Mirabel. Fermer Mirabel c'est un peu comme décider de ne plus utiliser le stade olympique (parce qu'il ne rapporte pas assez par exemple ; parce que sa restauration coûtera presque aussi cher que sa construction, etc...) ou de démolir le silo no 5 parce qu'il est abandonné depuis trop longtemps.

Nous (la société canadienne et québécoise) avons dépensé une fortune pour les expropriations et la construction de Mirabel. Tout ça pour rien !!?? Il semblerait que oui.

 

...we should put this behind us and have all the energy concentrated on one successfull airport.

Isn't it what's happening now ?

[rosey12387]

Here’s a part from a feature written in the Gazette last weekend:

 

CP route

- It is the shorter and therefore quicker route between downtown and the airport.

- While final cost estimates are still being worked out, early estimates pegged the CP option at 10- to 20-per-cent cheaper than the CN option.

- Choosing the CP corridor would dramatically improve links between the West Island and the proposed McGill University Health Centre superhospital. The new English-language teaching hospital is to be built on the Glen Yards beside Vendôme station. More frequent train service outside rush hours would also improve rail travel between the West Island with the Loyola campus of Concordia University, which is near Montreal West station.

- Westmount originally had strong reservations about an airport shuttle on the CP line but municipal leaders have been shown that the kind of trains and tracks that would be used would result in less noise than is currently the case. Even so, new noise barriers are under consideration.

- As for Montreal West, selection of the CP option would provoke major changes in and around Montreal West station. All rail lines into and out of the station would be lowered, so that they would pass through the area in a trench, sort of like the Décarie Expressway. Westminster Ave. and Elmhurst Ave. would become overpasses above the lowered rail lines. Montreal West Mayor Campbell Stuart says it hasn't been decided yet whether the trench would be covered or uncovered. Overall, the changes would make the area safer.

 

CN route

- Putting the shuttle train on this route would mean bringing commuter-train service to new neighbourhoods. New train stations could be built, sparking a new round of commercial and residential development in the old industrial neighbourhoods southwest of the downtown core. The proposed Griffintown development, in particular, would benefit.

- On the other hand, the CN route, being the longer of the two options between downtown and the airport, would require more track and be more expensive to build. And it would make for a longer ride between downtown and the airport. The city of Montreal is said to be pushing the CN option, according to insiders, although city official Darren Becker says it has not officially taken a position.

- Choosing the CN corridor would mean the airport shuttle would end up in a "real" downtown train station, Central Station; it's a lot nicer than the Lucien L'Allier terminus beside the Bell Centre. Although some sort of new terminal would be built west of the Bell Centre if the CP corridor is chosen, there's a lot of support within the hotel industry for a Central Station terminal. (An early proposal to have the shuttle run along the CP right of way, then loop around the Bell Centre on a new elevated rail line to Central Station, has been erased from the drawing board. )

- The big risk with the CN option is that it would fail as a development catalyst, leaving Montreal with a slow and expensive airport shuttle. Another potential problem is political: local politicians and residents are wary of the potential for accelerated gentrification near the new stations. Choosing the CN route could displace poor families.

- There are other downsides with respect to costs. A lot of money would have to be spent to rebuild and widen existing rail viaducts so a new set of tracks for the shuttle line could fit underneath. As for operating costs, they'd be higher, too, as the CN route, longer than the CP route, would mean higher fuel costs.

 

On a side note, both the CP lines and the CN lines have their pros and cons, but regardless of which track is chosen for the airport link, I have a quasi- pipe dream I’d love to see become reality: a fifth metro line that would be above-ground and would ultimately connect the CN line to the Doney Spur through the bit of rail that goes south, just west of the Technoparc St Laurent. The West Island would finally have its metro line, as would a huge neglected part of the Havre de Montreal which, crossing our fingers, will look ultimately different in 20 years time.

 

The stations would be as follows, but would ultimately depend on the level of development in these areas:

 

Stillview (West Island Terminus: end of the Doney Spur and close to Blvd. St. Charles)

St. Jean

Delmar

Des Sources

TechnoParc

Aeroport

Dorval

Lachine

Saint Pierre

Lac à la loutre

Saint-Remi

Place Saint Henri

Saint Patrick

Pointe Saint Charles

Wellington (corner Bridge)

Griffintown (stop at rue William)

Bonaventure

[Habsfan]

It would be cool to see both the CP and the CN lines on a map!?!?!

[rosey12387]

 

Excuse the poor quality.

 

The top one is the CP route, the bottom the CN.

 

For a better quality photo: http://www.montrealgazette.com/pdf/Airport_train.pdf

[MTLskyline]

Well, I would be all for the CP line if it actually ended in a railway station and not some makeshift outdoor drop off point.

 

So for that reason, I think the CN line is better (plus the development opportunities for the lower income neighbourhoods).

[cprail]

Well, I would be all for the CP line if it actually ended in a railway station and not some makeshift outdoor drop off point.

 

Don't forget that's the terminal it's gonna end in: