The 50s: Still no metro in sight
despite the municipalization of public transit and the end of tramways era
As we have seen in previous chapters, there is no
doubt that Montreal had suffered from the absence of a rapid transit system since the turn
of the century. There has been nothing but discussions on the subject decade after decade
on the first half of the 1900s, and rest assured: the 50s are no exception!
On August 24, 1950, The Montreal City Council adopts by-law 1981 which authorizes the
creation of the Montreal Transportation Commission (MTC). 4 days later, Quebec's premier,
Mr. Maurice Duplessis, receives an exhaustive report from an arbitration board concerning
the Montreal Tramway issue. The report draws a rather black picture of the transportation
situation in Montreal. The arbitrators did not use a kid-glove approach to criticize the
Tramways company. Like many did before, they give a comprehensive account of the everyday
congestion in the streets of the city. They also note the obsolescence of Montreal's 1001
streetcars, averaging 28 years of age, in comparison with 18 for Toronto's Tramways. They
propose a few solutions to relieve the street congestion. One of them (p. 97) is to bring
the city '…to apply with severity the by-laws that prohibit soliciting'. In spite of
the fact they favour the construction of a metro, the arbitrators do not encourage an
immediate realisation for economic reasons.
The Montreal Tramways Co. just couldn't resist to this latest assault and after a 40
years monopoly was replaced by the MTC on June 16, 1951. The newly appointed commission
has the mandate to undertake a comprehensive study on transportation problems (again!).
However, by-law 1981 points out that the MTC cannot undertake the construction of a metro.
Two years later, on October 23, 1953, the City of Montreal is handed a voluminous
report of nearly a thousand pages from the MTC officials in which a 'rapid public transit
system ' is proposed. In fact, the proposed system is a metro. A suggested initial line
would begin at the Youville terminus (MTC properties located near Legendre St. north of
Crémazie) to Champ-de-Mars with a loop to Peel (at St-Catherine) via Dominion Square.
Then, the line would go west to Atwater St. On this initial line, there are no stations
between Peel and St-Denis! This 117 million dollars project never got carried out.
Meanwhile, in Toronto, transit users began riding in a brand new subway in 1954. Whereas
in Montreal between 1951 and 1958 the MTC acquires 1330 new buses and spends 42 million
dollars in rolling stock and infrastructures.
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