Round-the-clock Metro service on summer weekends nixed by Plante administration
Despite it working in some other cities, STM says Montreal Metro not designed to offer overnight service
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante and the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) say the opposition's proposal to keep the Metro running round-the-clock on summer weekends is simply not feasible.
Ensemble Montréal issued a statement Tuesday suggesting that the Metro run overnight for 13 weekends, starting with Grand Prix weekend and ending on Labour Day.
Keeping the Metro open on weekends would help Montrealers who go out at night, tourists and late-night workers, said the opposition.
"In London, the public transit authority opened five subway lines every night on the weekends in August 2016, and between 2016 and 2018, 16.5 million riders used the night service," said Ensemble Montréal's Alan DeSousa, the mayor of Saint-Laurent borough.
Nighttime maintenance
The STM told CBC in a statement that "unlike other subway systems in the world, the Montreal network does not include dual tracks that would allow the service to be offered while maintaining it."
The transit agency says 250 employees work on the Metro network every night, and the night bus network is in place to ensure public transit users can still get around.
Currently, most lines are open until around 12:40 a.m. on weekdays and until 1 a.m. or 1:30 a.m. on Saturdays.
Plante said it made no sense for the opposition to put forward an idea before looking into whether it is even possible.
"They didn't say how much it would cost. Where we would get the money?" Plante said.
Plante said the motion will be debated at the next municipal council meeting on April 15.
With files from CBC Montreal's Daybreak