Not only are the AMT's diesel locomotives old and noisy, but they pollute.
The Agence métropolitaine de transport on Tuesday launched a call for tenders on a feasibility study for full electrification of the commuter train network. So far only the Deux-Montagnes line uses electric power (and it uses it exclusively).
CJAD (who I guess read La Presse this morning) quotes the AMT’s Joel Gauthier saying the process would take 15 years to complete. This is a decade faster than he predicted last year in an interview with the Hudson Gazette. The Gazette gets a figure of $300 million from an AMT document submitted in December.
The AMT is acquiring 20 dual-mode (diesel/electric) trains which will serve on its Train de l’Est. That route uses the Mount Royal tunnel, which prohibits diesel locomotion because it is not ventilated and everyone would, you know, die.
Electrifying the other four routes would cut down on pollution, cost and noise, which would no doubt satisfy this family who apparently have just realized that they live next to a century-old railway.
Of course, since AMT doesn’t actually own those tracks (they’re owned by CN and CP), this process certainly still has a way to go before anyone starts putting up wires.
¡Oy Vey! CN and CP are gonna be extremely happy to have their operations restricted by overhead wires… Already, the CN St-Laurent subdivision crosses the Deux-Montagnes line at Jonction de l’Est, and the catenary portion over the St-Laurent subd can be de-energized if a dimensional (oversize) load goes under.
Now, this is annoying, so CN has sought (and got) that the Jonction de l’Est be rebuilt as a flyover junction.
I wonder what’s their reaction is going to be when the AMT says they want to electrify all over the place…
(Granted, when this happens, perhaps oil prices will have risen again, enough to make mainline electrification more attractive)…
whenever i see that term “tenders” i think of chicken tenders, which are rather good to eat.