Exo6 - Deux-Montagnes line

exo6 Deux-Montagnes
Distance		29.9 km
Service periods		Monday-Friday
Number of trains		Monday-Thursday: 45 Friday: 36
Ridership		7,758,700 (2017)
Connecting systems		exo Deux-Montagnes, exo Laurentides, STL, STM

The exo6 - Deux-Montagnes line was a commuter rail line between Montreal and the municipality of Deux-Montagnes. The trip from Gare Central to Deux-Montagnes Station took approximately between 35 and 45 minutes. The line was the only electrified line operated by exo and ran Bombardier electric multiple unit (EMU) MR-90 trainsets. The trains were stored at their Saint-Eustache yard, after Deux-Montagnes station.

The Deux-Montagnes line operated over the CDPQ Infra's Deux-Montagnes subdivision from terminus to terminus. The line operated through the Mont-Royal tunnel, where diesel locomotives are prohibited due to poor ventilation. Therefore exo can only operate EMUs or dual-mode locomotives pulling Bombardier Multilevel coaches in the tunnel on a regular basis.

History

Beginning in 1912, the Canadian Northern Railway tunneled through Mount Royal to gain direct access to Montreal's downtown. Construction was financed by new development on the north side of the mountain, today a part of the Urban agglomeration of Montreal. Because of inadequate ventilation, trains were hauled by electric locomotives from the outset. Two months after the tunnel opened on October 21, 1918, the financially ailing Canadian Northern Railway became part of the newly created Canadian National Railway (CN).

On July 1, 1982, the Commission de transport de la communauté urbaine de Montréal (CTCUM) and CN agreed to integrate the Deux-Montagnes commuter line with the CTCUM's bus and Metro network. The fares and schedules would be set by the CTCUM and trains would be operated and maintained by CN. In 1985, the CTCUM became the Société de transport de la communauté urbaine de Montréal (STCUM).

By the 1990s, the equipment and infrastructure on the Deux-Montagnes lines were at an advanced age and in need of an upgrade. The Ministry of transport agreed to complete rebuild the line in 1992. From 1993 to 1995, the Deux-Montanges line was completely rebuilt. The CN boxcabs, dating back to the line's opening, former VIA Rail coaches as well as Canadian Car and Foundry EMUs that were used in service by that time were replaced by new Bombardier MR90 EMUs.

The Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT) was created in December 1995 to coordinate the planning of regional transit in the Greater Montreal area. The AMT assumed responsibility of the commuter rail network from the STCUM on January 1, 1996.

The AMT bought the full line from CN in February 2014 for a price of $97 million. With this transaction, the Deux-Montagnes line becomes the only line fully operated on the AMT network. The agreement provides operating rights for CN trains for access to the Doney Spur Subdivision.

Under the new law governing public transportation in the Greater Montreal area, the AMT was abolished on June 1, 2017, to make way for the Réseau de transport métropolitain (RTM). One month later, in July 2017, the train operations and maintenance were awarded to Bombardier Transport, which took over from the CN (for the Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Mascouche and Deux-Montagnes lines) and CP (for the Vaudreuil-Hudson, Saint-Jérôme and Candiac lines). The service experienced some difficulties initially due to lack of staff, but the situation quickly recovered.. Lather, in May 2018, the agency became known as exo after a rebranding process. In order to unite the bus and train services, a number and a new colour have been assigned to the line. The line is now known as exo6 - Deux-Montagnes with a peach colour.

CDPQ Infra, a subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, buys the line from the hands of the RTM in order to convert it into a light rail for the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) project. At the time of writing, a year later, this train set is still in use.

Due to the deterioration of services in the winter of 2017-2018, the RTM had to improve its train services. To do this, a train set consisting of 10 Bombardier MultiLevel cars with one ALP-45DP locomotive at each end was put into service to upgrade the aging MR-90 cars. The agency also proceeded to an upgrade and the installation of heating covers on about twenty switches. The three bridges on the line (Rivière des Prairies and Rivière des Milles-îles) have been repaired to allow for the normal speed of the MultiLevel train on them.

To begin the construction of the REM, the Friday night service and the weekend service was discontinued on April 27, 2018. The last train to leave Deux-Montagnes station for downtown Montréal is #956 at 18:56. From Montréal Gare Centrale, the last train is #957 at 19:30. The same also applies to the exo5 - Mascouche line. The closure have let to the creation of two bus lines. The first is STM's 968 Trainbus Côte-Vertu that serves Roxboro-Pierrefonds and Sunnybrooke to the Metro station Côte-Vertu on the end of the orange line. The second is exo Laurentides 400 Express Montmorency that serves Grand-Moulin and Deux-Montagnes to the Metro station Montmorency. This service is primarily available on Friday nights and weekends, but one departure is made during weekdays.

To allow the construction of the REM Canora and Mont-Royal stations, the south track (towards Montreal) was closed on June 25, 2018, a little after East Junction to the entrance of the Mount Royal Tunnel. This closure caused the modification of 23 departures and the cancellation of 4 trains, namely 914 (8:35 departing Roxboro-Pierrefonds), 902 (9:00 departing Bois-Franc), 915 (16:05 departing Gare Centrale to Roxboro-Pierrefonds) and 952 (17:20 departing Deux-Montagnes). To compensate for the cancellation of the four departures, the ARTM and exo offer up to 30% discount on user tickets.

In January 2020, the service was to be cut from Gare Centrale to Du Ruisseau for a period of 24 months, allowing the transformation of the line. After this period, the service was to be cut between Du Ruisseau and Deux-Montagnes to allow the transformation. Meanwhile, the REM should then be operational between South Shore and Du Ruisseau. However, this never occurred.

On May 11, 2020, service was cut between Gare Centrale and Bois-Franc.

On December 31, 2020, the Deux-Montagnes line was discontinued.

Stations

The following table shows station information before the line was discontinued.

Fare zone	Name	Address	Parking	Kiss-and-drop	Bike parking	Connecting service	Notes
1	Gare Centrale	895 rue de la Gauchetière Ouest, Montréal	0	0	0	exo3 exo5 Métro Orange Line (at Bonaventure) Buses at Terminus Centre-Ville	Metropolitan ticket office Lost and found Accessible
	Canora	7300 ch. Canora, Montréal	0	0	14	exo5 STM 92, 372
	Mont-Royal	1275 ch. Dunkirk, Mont-Royal	0	0	7	exo5 STM 16, 119, 165, 435
	Montpellier	465 boul. de la Côte-Vertu, Saint-Laurent	0	28	28	STM 121, 128, 171, 378, 380
2	Du Ruisseau	3735 boul. Henri-Bourassa Ouest, Saint-Laurent	Free: 1063 Carpooling: 5 Persons with disabilities: 5	12	21	STM 117, 135 STL 55
	Bois-Franc	5464 boul. Henri-Bourassa Ouest, Saint-Laurent	Free: 742 Carpooling: 4 Persons with disabilities: 7	5	21	STM 64, 164, 170, 171, 215, 263, 382 STL 55, 144, 151, 902
	Sunnybrooke	9670 boul. Gouin Ouest, Pierrefonds	Free: 515 Carpooling: 5 Persons with disabilities: 3	4	28	STM 68, 208, 213, 356, 382, 468, 968
	Roxboro-Pierrefonds	11100 boul. Gouin Ouest, Pierrefonds	Free: 880 Paid: 133 Carpooling: 7 Persons with disabilities: 9	14	44	STM 68, 205, 206, 208, 209, 213, 382, 407, 468, 968	Accessible
3	Île-Bigras	313 ch. du Tour, Laval	Free: 65 Carpooling: 2	0	15	None
	Sainte-Dorothée	1411 ch. du Bord-de-l'Eau, Laval	Free: 1101 Carpooling: 6 Persons with disabilities: 7	16	45	STL 26, 76, 402, 404, 903
5	Grand-Moulin	812 rue Rockland, Deux-Montagnes	Free: 304 Carpooling: 33 Persons with disabilities: 4	0	44	exo Laurentides 92, 400
	Deux-Montagnes	400 boul. Deux-Montagnes, Deux-Montagnes	Free: 1256 Paid: 251 Carpooling: 123 Persons with disabilities: 11	0	247	exo Laurentides 80, 81, 89, 90, 92, 93, 400 exo Deux-Montagnes 70	Have a bike shelter