We have seen in the previous instalment that the idea for an underground railway in Montreal was being thought about seriously from the turn of the century onwards. The year 1930 proves to be pivotal though, as it is when the city came close to getting its underground railway and as it marks the beginning of a time where the idea of a metro will fade away for a long time.

In 1930, Montreal’s streets are as congested as ever. On some streets during peak periods tramways are crawling at two miles an hour. There is now an almost unanimity on the urgency of a metro. Already in the 1920s Montreal’s city councillors and other urban transportation experts were pleading for the construction of an underground transportation system. In addition, our own records show that back in 1927 Montreal Tramways Commission president, J.F. St-Cyr, had already indicated publicly that such a transportation system was a necessity.

The question is such a hot issue that, in 1930, The Herald paper asks its readers the question, Should Montreal go ahead and build the metro? On the following December, The Herald publishes daily letters from its readers—with a $5 prize to the day’s best. Judging by the opinions voiced in these and others letters published in similar venues, people seemed by far and large in favour of the metro. The Quebec Premier himself, Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, lends his voice in support to the project, as reported in an interview which ran December 24, 1930, in La Patrie paper.

As the sole public transportation carrier on the island, the Montreal Tramways Company roots for the construction of a metro. Owned by two electric power producing companies, the company takes a rather dim view to the increase in the number of buses. R.N. Watt, assistant to the Company President, meets with special interest groups in 1930 and at the beginning of 1931. These conferences were consigned in a twenty-page document that clearly shows that the Tramways Company was petitioning the construction of three metro lines. The 65 million dollars project were to have been financed by the City of Montreal, who would in return have collected 40% of the 3.5 million required annually for debt servicing by a slight increase in property taxes and a 9/10 of a cent increase in the price of transit ticket. The financial side of the project is quite sound, as cost for transportation in 1930 Montreal is among the lowest in North America for cities of comparable size (a quarter buys four tickets).

Everybody was sure that the metro was for real, this time. Well, not so. The 1930s brought with them the century’s worst economic crisis. It started off with the stock market crash of 1929 and went on until 1939, where finally World War II overcame it for good. In 1933-34, the height of the crisis, a quarter of the workforce in Montreal is jobless. Taking action on high unemployment, Montreal along with both levels of government throw in tens of million of dollars in capital works programs that will leave as heritage to future generations the mountain chalet, the public park in Sainte-H�l�ne Island, and the Botanical Garden. In addition, the City also inherits a number of street improvements, such as intersection traffic lights, construction and upgrade of boulevards, bridges and underpasses. Some people propose that the available funds could be used to build the underground system. But the momentum has petered out. Streets have cleared out and less passengers are cramming the tramways. Queues form at city relief centres instead of in front of bus and tramway stops. Traffic and transit ridership hit rock bottom just like the stock market did in 1929. In 1933, the Montreal Tramways Company carries 54 million passengers less than in 1929, a 22 % drop of its ridership in just four years.

Consequently the need for an underground railway becomes so much less obvious. On the other hand, tramway tracks are laid down continually and the system is growing fast; in 1933, it will reach a peak at 510 kilometres. Paradoxically, as Paris retires its last tramway on August 31, 1936, there are still about a thousand of these machines in the streets in Montreal. And then, on March 29, 1937, the first trolleybus (an electrically-powered bus) hit the street of Montreal – which pleases to no end the Tramways Company and its proprietors.

As the saying goes, the puck didn’t bounce the way of metro supporters.

• A few dates
• History of the Bus in Montreal
• The origins of the STM