History
Service on this line started in 1887. Service began with local stops between Montreal and Rigaud being added to trains running between Montreal and Ottawa. Over time, as the population of the western part of the Island of Montreal increased, Canadian Pacific established a dedicated commuter service with several stops on the Island of Montreal and off the western tip of the Island. Over the past 50 years, service patterns on the line have not changed all that much. The average number of weekday round trips has hovered around 12, with weekend and holiday service averaging 3 or 4 trips depending on whether the day is Saturday or Sunday.
The commuter line was owned and operated by Canadian Pacific until October 1, 1982. On that date, management and ownership of the commuter trains was transferred to the publicly owned Montreal Urban Community Transit Commission (STCUM). The STCUM set fares and schedules, and assumed ownership of the equipment (passenger cars and locomotives) that Canadian Pacific had used to operate the service. Canadian Pacific continued to provide the tracks, stations, storage, maintenance, and train crews needed to keep the line running. For Montreal commuters, the transfer of ownership was positive because the trains were integrated into the bus and metro system. Over time, the commuter line was upgraded with the purchase of new equipment and renovated stations. The line was transferred to the newly formed AMT on January 1, 1996.
On July 1, 2010, service to Rigaud was discontinued, as the town of Rigaud was unable to justify a $300,000.00 annual fee, almost double the previous annual fee of $160,000.00 required by the AMT to maintain train service for a handful of users. The line now ends at Hudson. At this time the line was renamed: "Dorion" was replaced by "Vaudreuil" in reference to the terminus for most runs, and "Rigaud" was replaced by "Hudson" in reference to the terminus for the extended service.
Read more about this topic: Vaudreuil-Hudson Line (AMT)
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“We don’t know when our name came into being or how some distant ancestor acquired it. We don’t understand our name at all, we don’t know its history and yet we bear it with exalted fidelity, we merge with it, we like it, we are ridiculously proud of it as if we had thought it up ourselves in a moment of brilliant inspiration.”
—Milan Kundera (b. 1929)
“No matter how vital experience might be while you lived it, no sooner was it ended and dead than it became as lifeless as the piles of dry dust in a school history book.”
—Ellen Glasgow (1874–1945)
“The second day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more”
—John Adams (1735–1826)