The company or consortium selected by STM will be responsible for digging the six-kilometer tunnel and building the stations. For digging, we use a tunnel boring machine that builds the walls of the tunnel from precast concrete pieces while the huge machine goes underground.
Enlarge picture (New window)Diagram explanatory of the operation of the tunnel boring machine used to extend the Montreal subway blue line.
Photo: Radio Canada / Montreal Transport Company
The mastodon with a diameter of 10 meters is powered by electricity. It’s ecological and quiet, so citizens may not even notice it’s going under their homes, the STM points out.
The tunnel boring machine will be responsible for excavating the part of the tunnel that will connect the future Pie-IX and Anjou Ouest stations, located furthest to the east of the future blue line. The section from the rear station of Saint-Michel station to Pie-IX station will be excavated by conventional excavation.
The project leader will also be in charge of excavating the main entrance of the future Pie IX station, as well as the Viau and Lacordaire stations.
According to a press release from the Société de transport de Montréal, the STM will announce the name of the selected company or consortium in the second quarter of 2023.
The map of the stations that will extend the subway’s blue line eastward.
Photo: Radio Canada
The five new metro stations are located along rue Jean-Talon, at the intersection of boulevards Pie-IX, Viau, Lacordaire and Langelier, and on rue Bélanger, on either side of the 25 motorway, for the terminus in Anjou . According to the project presented last March, the future REM de l’Est, when it sees the light of day, would be linked to the future Lacordaire station.
“We all know that the revitalization of the East requires traffic structuring; It is therefore excellent news that we are announcing today. »
— A quote from Pierre Fitzgibbon, Minister for Economy, Innovation and Energy
The project is scheduled for completion in 2029 at an estimated cost of US$6.4 billion, equivalent to US$1.28 billion per station. A bill that could continue to rise due to inflation and supply chain fragility.
Most of the expansion budget will be covered by the Quebec government. Add to that $1.3 billion from the federal government, which is about 20% of the project’s cost. The STM will also receive a $1.12 billion grant from the Quebec government.
The extension of the metro to Anjou is expected to bring more than 25,600 additional users to the metro corridors during rush hour. That influx means about 5,300 fewer cars on the road and the elimination of at least 25 tons of greenhouse gases per rush hour, according to STM forecasts.
Not beyond Anjou at the moment
The extension of the Montreal Metro blue line.
Photo: Radio Canada
Since the tunnel boring machine will already be underground, it could be profitable for the authorities to use the machines’ presence to extend the tunnel beyond the future Anjou station in anticipation of future needs.
However, this possibility would not be in the boxes of the STM at the moment.
Eventually, the tunnel boring machine could be reused for other expansion projects in 2029, but there are no plans to dig further than for the current needs of the expansion project, explained Philippe Déry, STM’s Corporate Public Relations Advisor.
Mr. Déry specified that the use of the tunnel boring machine currently planned and the operating parameters, in particular the budget foreseen for the use, are those foreseen as part of the project to extend the blue line.
43 years later…
![A sign announcing 'Preparation work for the future metro station [...] from spring 2021” as part of the “Blue Line Extension” project.](https://www.spamchronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/1670354009_16_Extension-of-the-blue-line-the-tender-is-started.jpg "Extension of the blue line: the tender is started 6")
Bill 66, passed by the National Assembly in December 2020, allowed preparatory work to begin, although many expropriations were challenged in court.
Photo: Radio Canada / Jean-Sebastien Cloutier
Approved in 1979 by former Prime Minister René Lévesque, the metro’s blue line extension from Montreal east to Anjou appears to be on track for completion 43 years later. Unfortunately, Quebec’s public transport system requires patience, but this time it seems different.
“Our government is making every effort to realize this long-awaited project. »
— A quote from Geneviève Guilbault, Quebec Minister of Transport
We can never repeat it enough: In the age of climate challenges, the development of public transport networks is at the heart of solutions to support sustainable mobility, says Quebec Minister of Transport Geneviève Guilbault in a press release.
Noting that no new metro station has been inaugurated on the island of Montreal since 1988, Mayor Valérie Plante is pleased that the catching-up process in the development of public transport is accelerating.
With its five new stations, the blue line will make it possible to serve new customer groups who finally have an effective alternative to solo travel. The extension of the blue line will allow us to accelerate the ecological transition while offering complete and sanitized living environments, explains Ms. Plante.