MONTREAL - More frequent train service between Ste. Anne de Bellevue and downtown was on the agenda as the AMT president met with West Island mayors Tuesday afternoon.
The Agence métropolitaine de transport has proposed spending more than $700 million to build new dedicated tracks for commuter trains, which could improve train service. Service is currently scarce due to sharing tracks with freight trains.
The group of mayors asked for commuter service every 15 minutes during rush hour and every 30 minutes at off-peak hours from 6 a.m. to midnight between Ste. Anne de Bellevue and the Lucien L'Allier station.
It would bring the train service up to 43 in off-peak hours from the current five, and to 26 from 14 on weekends.
The AMT was receptive to the suggestions Tuesday, but said changes won't occur before 2015 or 2016.
The AMT has so far made a shuttle between the airport and downtown a priority, but former Lac-Saint-Louis Member of Parliament Clifford Lincoln argued the money would be better spent on trains.
"Here there are 500,000 people who for years have been screaming for better transportation," said Lincoln. "This place is totally ignored."
Bolstering train service would shorten commuter times and be better for the environment, said Pointe Claire Mayor Bill McMurchie.
"I don't think there's anybody in their right mind who would like to sit in traffic moving at five to ten kilometres an hour if it was a rapid link to downtown," he said.
Meanwhile, the AMT is also preparing to launch a call for tenders for the engineering work that would be required to extend the blue line of the metro network by three stations along Jean-Talon Blvd., from Saint-Michel Blvd. to Langelier Blvd.
The AMT says here, too, it foresees opening the new stations in 2015 or 2016.
There are three other long-term metro extension projects being studied by the AMT, including two for the orange line.
With files from Canadian Press
