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Length: 30,0 km
Stations: 31
Travel time: 45m 20s
Rolling stock: MR-73, 9 cars
Profile: South-north radial, two branches
Boroughs served:
Saint-Laurent
Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce
Le Sud-Ouest
Ville-Marie
Le Plateau-Mont-Royal
Rosemont–Petite-Patrie
Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension
Ahuntsic–Cartierville
Laval-des-Rapides (city of Laval)
Major streets:
boul. Décarie
av. Victoria
rue Hochelaga
rue de La Gauchetière
rue Viger
rue Berri
rue Saint-Denis
boul. de la Concorde
Transfer stations:
Snowdon
(Blue line)
Lionel-Groulx
(Green line)
Berri-UQAM
(Green and yellow lines)
Jean-Talon
(Blue line)
Commuter train intermodal stations:
Vendôme
(Gare Vendôme – Dorion–Rigaud, Blainville–Saint-Jérôme, and Delson–Candiac lines)
Lucien-L'Allier
(Gare Lucien-L'Allier – Dorion–Rigaud, Blainville–Saint-Jérôme, and Delson–Candiac lines)
Bonaventure
(Gare Centrale – Deux-Montagnes and Mont-Saint-Hilaire lines)
De La Concorde
(Gare de la Concorde – Blainville–Saint-Jérôme line)
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Route
This is the longest, most congested, and first-planned line in the metro. In addition to serving Old Montreal and the financial district, it drains the dense residential areas of the Plateau, Rosemont, Montreal North, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Saint-Laurent and Laval towards the green line and the central business district, as well as the blue line which only connects to the orange.
This is also the only line to feature shortened runs. At rush hours, every second train terminates at Henri-Bourassa. This allows the train to leave from Henri-Bourassa as well, thereby reducing congestion on the line. The other trains continue to Montmorency, as do all trains outside of rush hour.
Additionally, two trains in the early morning take passengers as they proceed from Henri-Bourassa to Montmorency to begin service. On their way back they continue all the way to Côte-Vertu.
Origins
The most congested part and the first part of this line to be built, the section under rue Saint-Denis, was also the first part of the metro to be designed. Originally the plans went no further north than Crémazie, and also crossed the Saint Lawrence to Longueuil. A branch serving the financial district would meet it at Berri. However, this would have jeopardized future expansions to downtown, and a new plan was drawn with the Old Montreal branch as part of the line instead of the Longueuil branch. This part of the line was to turn north up through Dorchester Square to approximately the modern Peel, Guy, and Atwater stations; of course this portion of the plan would be the beginnings of the green line.
Initial network construction
The first section of this line went between Henri-Bourassa and Bonaventure. The section serving rue Saint-Denis was built under rue Berri a block away, in order to lower disruption of traffic. The first earth to be broken for the metro was on this line, near rue Jarry, on 23 May 1962. Originally the line was to go only to Square-Victoria, but the plans were extended to serve Place Bonaventure. Square-Victoria and Bonaventure were not opened at inauguration, but some months later.
Extensions
Afterwards the line was expanded progressively over about six years, first to Place Saint-Henri (meeting the green line at Lionel-Groulx, the first transfer station after Berri), then to Snowdon, then Côte-Sainte-Catherine, Plamondon, and Du Collège. Côte-Vertu, built in 1986, was the last station to be built on this line until the long-awaited opening of the Laval extension (Cartier, De la Concorde, and Montmorency) in 2007 — the first metro extension in over 19 years.
Future plans
A final extension to Salaberry in Saint-Laurent, along with an intermodal station at Bois-Franc, was to cap this end of the line. However, the provincial government abruptly placed a moratorium on metro expansion in 1986, and only one station, Côte-Vertu, could finally be built. This would be the last extension of this line up to the present day, and there are no current plans to complete the expansion. (Rumours that the tunnel alone was built as far as Salaberry do not appear to have any basis in fact.)
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