THE Quebec provincial government and the city of Montreal have committed themselves to investing more than $C 565m ($US 422.2m) in a new train control system for the Montreal Transport (STM) metro.

The project will begin with implementation on the Blue Line and will be financed primarily by Quebec to the tune of $C 296.6m, with STM contributing $C 65.6m and a request for additional funding being made to the Canadian federal government.

In issuing a call for tenders for the new system, STM says it will be based “on a more efficient CBTC-type technology, used by the vast majority of metro operators around the world.”

Installation of the new train control system is expected to be completed on the existing Blue Line in 2028 and in 2029 on its 6km  extension, running east from Saint-Michel to Anjou with five stations and currently under construction. It will be installed on the Green, Orange and Yellow lines at a later date which has still to be decided.

“The new train control system brings our metro network into the modern age,” says Montreal mayor, Ms Valérie Plante. “This investment demonstrates the government of Quebec’s commitment to the development of Montreal’s public transit network.”

“This project will ensure the technological viability of the metro network for decades to come, in addition to allowing more flexibility in the positioning of trains,” says STM director general, Ms Marie-Claude Léonard.

In April 2022, as part of its efforts to upgrade signalling systems on the metro network, STM exercised an option in a contract awarded to Thales in 2018 to install computer-based interlocking systems at eight metro stations.

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