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Contract signing for the procurement
of Montréal’s métro cars.
New cars introduced into service starting in 2014
Montréal, October 22, 2010 – Today, the Société de transport de Montréal signed a procurement contract for 468 cars for the Montréal metro with the Bombardier-Alstom consortium. The announcement was attended by Québec Transport Minister, Sam Hamad, Ms. Manon Barbe, Montréal Executive Committee member responsible for transportation, Michel Labrecque, Chairman of the STM Board of Directors, Ms. Ann Macdonald, Vice-President, Business Development and Sales for Bombardier Transport North America, and Pierre Gauthier, President of Alstom Canada.
With a unit price of $2.64 million per car, the contract is valued at $1.2 billion, making it one of the largest contracts awarded in Québec in 2010. The new cars will gradually replace the MR-63 métro cars that have been in service since 1966. They will bear the name MPM-10 (for Matériel Pneumatique de Montréal acquired in 2010). According to a preliminary schedule, the first boa-type train to be introduced into passenger service on the 2 – Orange line will be delivered in early 2014. The Montréal metro will then be celebrating its 48th anniversary. Afterwards, a nine-car train set will be added into service each month.
‘’The metro is the gateway to public transit in the greater Montréal area and, as a government, we were responsible for ensuring the long-term sustainability of such public assets as the Montréal metro. This historic agreement enables us to achieve the three important goals we had set out, namely having a well-performing metro for our city and its economy, a fair and reasonable price and economic benefits for all of Québec,” declared Minister Sam Hamad.
Moreover, he reminded that today’s announcement follows in the wake of Bill 116 that was adopted by the National Assembly last October 7.
‘’The contract signing by the STM and Bombardier-Alstom consortium is excellent news for Montréal, the metropolitan area and Québec as a whole. The arrival of these new métro cars is part of a set of measures aimed at modernizing the métro system, while increasing its capacity and reliability. This modernization is one more step toward achieving one of the major initiatives outlined in Montréal’s Transportation Plan and supports the objective we share with the Government of Québec of promoting public transportation,” indicated Montréal Mayor Gérald Tremblay.
As for Michel Labrecque, he is convinced that the investment in public transportation will be of benefit to all transit users in the greater Montréal area. ‘’The decisions made in 1963 prove that investing in métro infrastructure is both economically sound and viable, as this equipment delivers performance and has a structuring effect. With 21st century rolling stock, we can increase our transport capacity by some 24% and significantly improve the public transit experience for clients, thanks to greater comfort and state-of-the-art information systems. Thus, we will be in a position to pursue our goals of increasing ridership and improving services, while keeping our title as outstanding public transportation system in North America that we were recently awarded by APTA, the American Public Transportation Association.”
Since 2006, métro service has increased by nearly 30%. In 2009, it provided more than 235.2 million rides, averaging over 850,000 rides per weekday.
Finally, according to a benchmarking study conducted by Imperial College London among 27 major métro systems around the world, Montréal ranked as the most efficient in the world, meaning that the productivity of its workforce is the highest in terms of kilometre-car and that its operating costs are among the lowest. The STM also surpassed its peers because, despite having some of the oldest rolling stock in the world, they are meticulously maintained by employees, which allows the métro to sustain an adequate level of reliability.
Montréal, October 21, 2010 -- Contract signing for the procurement of Montréal’s métro cars. Left to right: Mr. Pierre Gauthier, President of Alstom Canada, Mr. Yves Devin, STM Director General, Mrs. Manon Barbe, Montréal Executive Committee member responsible for transportation, Mr. Michel Labrecque, Chairman of the STM Board of Directors, Mr. Sam Hamad, Québec Transport Minister, and Mrs. Ann MacDonald, Vice-president, Business Development and Sales for Bombardier Transport North America.
Click here (Will open in new window)">Click here for the MPM-10 technical specifications.
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