Passengers can board first new métro train starting Sunday
It took seven years and more than $ 2 billion, and on Sunday the first new métro cars in 40 years will be pressed into service.
The new trains, called AZUR, are expected to be rolled out over the course of 18 months, with the first train departing Sunday morning from the Henri- Bourassa métro station.
For now, the STM only has one nine- car train set in its possession, but over the next year and a half, 468 métro cars are due to be delivered. They’ll run on the Orange Line first, then move to the Blue Line, with only a few of the new cars on the Green Line. The MR- 73 model of trains on the Orange and Blue Lines will be transferred to the Green Line, allowing the STM to retire the old MR- 63 cars — the subway system’s oldest — currently serving that line.
Here’s a recap of what we know so far about the new trains:
WHAT’ SIN A NAME?
The trains, ordered in 2010, were initially called MPM- 10 — short for matériel pneumatique de Montréal. However, the STM wanted to give the new train models a more creative name. It launched a public contest, and received 6,000 suggestions. The name AZUR was chosen in a public vote.
MORE SPACE,FEWER SEATS
The new cars can fit more people because there are no separations between the cars, so passengers will be able to walk from one end of the train to the other. However, in order to accommodate wheelchairs, and wider doors, there are fewer seats: 272 for a nine- car set compared with 288 in the MR- 63s.
NOTQUITED RIVER LESS
The new trains have a software that automates most of the train’s tasks. It drives the trains, performs diagnostics of its systems, and handles automation, like opening the doors. A driver still needs to be at the front of each train to close the doors and press a button to restart the train at each station. The trains also have a manual mode, to allow a driver to take over.
A CONTROVERSIAL DEAL
The Quebec government originally decided to award the contract without a tender process in 2006, but faced with a public backlash it opted for a call for tenders in 2008. The international call for tenders, however, was scrapped at the last minute, and Quebec awarded the contract to Bombardier/ Alstom in 2010, citing an emergency need to replace the métro cars. There were public complaints that the government probably didn’t get the best price, since the competitive bidding process was halted. The trains were built in La Pocatière,
near Rivière- du- Loup, creating 245 jobs in that town. A byelection was held in La Pocatière a few weeks after the contract was awarded.
THE PRICE TAG
It will cost $ 1.2 billion for the new métro cars, and added to that is another $ 1.2 billion of infrastructure upgrades to adapt the network to the new cars. The STM is footing 25 per cent of the cost and the province the other 75 per cent. But the
total paid to Bombardier/ Alstom could be less than stipulated in the contract, since the first train was delivered over a year late. Bombardier/ Alstom must pay a penalty of $ 10,000 per day for any delays. The STM has said it expects all the cars will be delivered by the September 2018 date stipulated in the contract.