Montreal to re-establish tram network

Montreal residents and visitors to one of the world’s largest French speaking cities will soon enjoy a new form of public transportation. Gerard Tremblay, the Canadian city’s mayor, announced that Montreal will establish a tram network by no later than 2013. The last trams were removed from the streets of this Canadian city nearly half a century ago, but the city now believes that reinstating this form of public transit is precisely what the metropolis needs in order to provide better communal transportation options and to more effectively connect the historic Old Port with the downtown financial and commercial district.

The city’s original tramway network was phased out during the late 1950s, thanks in large part to the actions of the then increasingly powerful automobile lobby. Yet now, as the high price of petrol takes its toll on drivers and as environmental concerns become more prevalent, electric transportation options-like trams and trolleys-seem like the way of the twenty-first century.

Montreal’s local administration has plans to build two separate tramway lines. The first one, scheduled to be completed by no later than 2013, will connect the downtown with the Old Port. A second tram line will also be established along Park Avenue, one of Montreal’s busiest roads. In addition to new trams, Mayor Tremblay also has plans to extend the city’s metro system-which is currently comprised of four separate lines-by providing western and eastern parts of the island direct access to the underground, through new stations along extended lines.