Montreal's Lucien L'Allier train station set to close for six months for makeover

Montreal's Lucien L'Allier train station is closing April 1 for at least six months -- and more major work will take another six months after that.

All four platforms are going to be torn up and rebuilt for the first time in five decades, adding roofs to shelter passengers, more emergency exits, and updated signs.

The busiest train station on the exo network, the train line services the Vaudreuil/Hudson, Saint-Jérôme and Candiac lines.

While it's closed, riders on the Vaudreuil/Hudson and Candiac trains will face the end of the line at Vendome, while those from Saint-Jérôme will have to get off at the Parc station.

Exo said the lines will not return to the station at the same time. Travellers on the Vaudreuil/Hudson line will be able to return after six months, but the station will remain closed to the Saint-Jérôme and Candiac lines for 12 months. 

"We decided to do it right now in a planned method. So we looked at different scenarios. We chose the one that was that had the least impact on the riders, but also the residents that live nearby since it's downtown. And if we didn't do it right now, we could have had a situation where it could be emergency works and we don't want to do that," said exo spokesperson Jean-Maxime St-Hilaire.

Not a major inconvenience: advocate

While passengers do need to transfer because of this closure, public transit advocate Francois Pepin said it won't be a major inconvenience.

"With the frequency of the metro, the high frequency with the metro, it is easy. So it's a good solution," said Pepin, a board member with Trajectoire Quebec.

More details for commuters are available on exo's website.

- with files from CTV News Montreal's Olivia O'Malley