On August 30, 1959, Montreal Mayor Sarto Fournier said goodbye to his city’s tram network at an official ceremony. It must be said that this means of transport has not been so popular for several years and that the network is in poor condition. We find trams less practical than buses and, above all, more and more drivers think that they are responsible for the traffic jams in the city center.
After nearly a century of faithful service, Montreal’s last streetcars will be completely phased out of the city’s transportation network.
Urbanization and the birth of the tram
Between 1831 and 1861, Montreal’s population tripled. The 90,000 Montrealers have to travel, sometimes over dozens of kilometers. The tram seems to be the ideal way. The first horse-drawn tram was inaugurated in November 1861. Originally, the metropolitan horse-drawn tram allowed travel on Notre-Dame Street in what is now Old Montreal between du Havre and McGill streets.
While the first lines were naturally laid along the river, in 1864 a first north-south line enabled traffic through the center on Boulevard Saint-Laurent. The lines will then multiply rapidly and extend for thousands of kilometers across the island. The network relies on the strength of 1,000 sturdy draft horses and 150 trams. In winter, since the city streets are not yet cleared of snow at this time, sleighs replace trams.
The tram, often called “P’tit Char”, is in the public domain
Each horse-drawn tram has two employees, the coachman and the conductor. The latter is responsible for selling tickets at 5 cents. These days, travel seems affordable to us, but for a worker earning $1 a day, it’s a real luxury. Public domain
In the 19th century there was no indication of the tram stops. To get the driver’s attention and get him to stop, you had to raise your arm. Imagine… back then it was even possible to ask him to wait a few minutes. McCord Museum Archives
Electric trams
The Montreal Street Railway Company’s electrification of streetcars began in 1892 and was completed two years later in 1894.
Montreal is entering a new era of modernization, the city attracting thousands of immigrants and French Canadians who leave their country to find work in the metropolis’s factories. The first electrically powered trams were a surprise. They race through the streets at 30 km/h, a pretty spectacular speed at the end of the 19th century that frightens many Montrealers.
The Saint-Denis and Saint-Laurent lines provide access to the rural areas in the center and north of the island, in the Rosemont sector or in Cartierville. The city is growing in step with the development of the electric transport network, which extends to all corners of the island.
While it covers important locations, the tram also allows day-trippers to explore or simply admire the city. For 50 cents, the convertible observatory tram, specially arranged in floors to maximize views, offers two-hour panoramic tours around Mount Royal.
Electric trams archive STM
Much faster than horses, electric trams served Sault-au-Récollet in 1893 and the municipality of Saint-Laurent two years later. In 1896, Bout-de-l’Île and Lachine benefited from this service the following year. STM archives
The Song of the Swan
After nearly 100 years of faithful service, the popularity of gasoline vehicles has overtaken our electric trams. The gradual withdrawal of trams in Montreal will take place over a period of eight years. We will then purchase 1,300 oil buses to replace the 939 electric trams. The legendary Sainte Catherine line ceased operations in 1956. Three years later, on August 30, 1959, Montrealers traveled in large numbers on Papineau Avenue and Rosemont Boulevard, among other places, to greet light rail conductors one last time.
In 1950, the majority of Quebecers did not own a car. Major automakers will invest hundreds of millions of dollars in marketing to boost sales. The number of cars has more than doubled since 1960. In fact, there are now three times as many cars as children in Quebec. STM archives
Who caused the tram to disappear?
In the United States, at the beginning of World War II, several companies such as Firestone, Standard Oil, and General Motors, to name a few, developed a joint strategy to acquire the streetcar networks of forty American cities and then dismantle them and replace them with buses. Major cities such as Chicago, New York and Los Angeles are being targeted. For their absurd and illegal plan, these companies will be found guilty in American courts, but the fines are so low (for example: $5,000) that the latter will literally overwhelm the entire tram network in the north of the country. America.
Montreal’s last tram Archives STM
The last streetcar on Rosemont Boulevard permanently ceased service on August 30, 1959. STM archives
On the other hand, it has never been proven that Montreal and Quebec suffered from the destructive strategies of these companies. No, our own trams have been neglected and poorly maintained. They suffered from a lack of investment and were then abandoned by administrators seduced by the dream of oil bus manufacturers. Back then, oil was cheap and the planet seemed capable of absorbing all the extravagances of modern life. These are often the same administrators who promoted the expansion of our urban road system, which is connected to highways by bridges to make it easier to enter and exit the island in our large American cars.
Fortunately, a few rare North American cities like Toronto have been able to withstand this wave of transformation.
The End of the Montreal Tram Archives STM
Occasionally rails protrude
It’s virtually impossible for Montrealers not to be nostalgic for this era that lasted nearly 100 years. Especially when occasionally, especially in hot weather, certain sections of the old tram tracks resurface through the many potholes in the city streets.
Even today, the news from Quebec to Montreal reminds us that many have not given up on this electric transportation network.