Blue line project press room
Benoit Charette, Quebec Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility; Chantal Rouleau, Minister Responsible for Social Solidarity and Community Action and Minister Responsible for the Metropolis and the Montréal Region; Karine Boivin Roy, Minister Responsible for Housing; Marie-Gabriel Menard, Member of the Parliament for Hochelaga— Rosemont-Est Eric St-Pierre Member of the Parliament for Honoré-Mercier; Soraya Martinez-Ferrada, Mayor of Montreal; and Aref Salem, Vice-Chair of the Executive Committee of the City of Montreal and Chair of the STM Board of Directors gathered today to mark the symbolic start of the tunnel boring machine as it heads toward the future Anjou station of the Blue Line Project.
Blue Line extension: The largest tunnel boring machine ever seen in Quebec has arrived
The Blue Line Project Office is pleased to announce that the tunnel boring machine has arrived at the Port of Montreal, marking a key milestone in the project. Custom-made in Germany for Montreal’s metro extension project, this massive drilling machine, has a cutting wheel measuring 9.7 metres in diameter will be used to dig and encase 4.6 kilometers of tunnel all the way to Anjou.
Valérie Plante, Mayor of Montréal, and Éric Alan Caldwell, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), today unveiled the names of the five future stations of the Blue Line métro extension. Breaking with the tradition of naming stations after adjacent roadways, a new approach aims to honour communities that have shaped the city’s history as well as highlight the decisive contribution of certain women to Quebec’s social, cultural and economic development.
Preparatory work for the Blue line extension project continues to move ahead on Jean-Talon Street East. That work will see the Blue line project office and the STM open a new reserved lane on Bélanger Street on Monday, October 28. Reserved for buses, taxis and bikes, the lane will make it easier for people to get around in the area during construction of the Blue line.
The Blue line extension worksites on Jean-Talon Street East will be active starting on September 25. The street will be closed in various places in the coming months, with certain intersections blocked until 2029 or later. As of Wednesday, September 25, Jean-Talon will be fully closed at the corner of Pie-IX. Towards the end of October, the intersections at Viau and Langelier will be closed as well.
Today, the Blue line extension project office awarded the contract for the line’s new train control system. The adoption of a communications-based train control (CBTC) system, which is already used by the vast majority of subway network operators around the world, is an opportunity to modernize the Montréal métro’s train control system for the entire Blue line.
The blue line extension project follows in the wake of the Déclaration du gouvernement du Québec et de la Ville de Montréal to revitalize Montréal East. Many projects are underway to give a new impetus to this sector. Increased mobility, economic development, and improved living environments are at the heart of this ambitious project. For more information, see Québec.ca/RevitalisationEstMontreal (in French only).