Orange Line (Montreal Metro) - History

History

The line was originally supposed to run between Crémazie and Place-d'Armes.

Work on the Orange line began on May 23, 1962 on Berri Street just south of Jarry Street. In November 1962, the city of Montreal learned that it had been awarded the 1967 International and Universal Exposition (commonly known as Expo 67). To better meet the anticipated demand for transit during Expo 67, it was decided on August 6, 1963 to add the Sauvé and Henri-Bourassa stations in the north, as well as the Square-Victoria and Bonaventure stations in the south.

On October 14, 1966 the section between Henri-Bourassa and Place-d'Armes opened, forming part of the original Metro network. Completion of smaller sections were delayed by several months. On February 6, 1967 the segment from Place-d'Armes to Square-Victoria opened, followed on February 13, 1967 by Bonaventure.

Prior to the inauguration of the initial network, extensions were proposed in all directions, including the West Island. In its 1967 Urban Plan, entitled "Horizon 2000", the city of Montreal planned to build, a network of almost 100 miles (160 km) by the end of the twentieth century. On February 12, 1971, the council of the Montreal Urban Community authorized the borrowing of C$430 million to extend the Metro. This amount increased to C$665 million in 1973, and to C$1.6 billion in 1975. This expansion plan included the costs of extending the Orange line westward, a distance of 20.5 kilometres (12.7 mi)), adding 16 new stations, as well as the construction of a new garage. The terminus station, Salaberry, would have been an intermodal station with Bois-Franc commuter rail station.

From the beginning, the plan was to expand the Metro to the northwest, but massive cost overruns on the expansion of the Green line in preparation for the 1976 Summer Olympics, led to several years of delays, including a moratorium on underground expansions in 1976. To cut costs, they eliminated three planned stations (Poirier, Bois-Franc, De Salaberry) and a maintenance workshop at the end of the track.

In 1979, the Minister of Transport, Denis de Belleval, proposed to complete the subway extension to Du Collège and to extend the rest of the line above ground. This transportation plan was rejected by the mayors of the Montreal Urban Community. The moratorium was lifted in February 1981, when a new agreement that approved the construction of one additional station, Côte-Vertu. Du Collège was considered inappropriate to play the role of a terminus.

The western segment was constructed win the 1980s and was opened in several stages. On April 28, 1980, it was extended from Bonaventure to Place-Saint-Henri. From there, the line was extended to Snowdon on September 7, 1981, on 4 January 1982 to Côte-Sainte-Catherine, on June 29, 1982 to Plamondon, on January 9, 1984 to Du Collège, and finally on November 3, 1986 to the western terminus of Côte-Vertu.