Expo Express
The Expo Express was an automated rapid-transit line in Montreal, built to transport the crowds visiting the Expo 67 World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1967. It provided free transportation to fair patrons from the mainland across the St. Lawrence River, to various stations located at fair sites on St. Helen's Island and Notre Dame Island. Reasons why a dedicated rapid transit line was chosen included the Expo 67's river location, that did not lend itself well to private automobile access, and projections for over half a million attendees per day. In addition to the Expo Express, there were mini monorail trains that operated from the Expo Express stations to various pavilions around the fair site.
The elevated line was 3.5 miles long and double-tracked for directional operation, and used features such as Continuously Welded Rail to make the ride quiet and noiseless for passengers. It operated on standard-gauge track, and used 550-volt power from a third-rail. The trains were fully automated and controlled from a single central location at Place D'Accueil using coded circuit technology from Uniswitch Corporation, but due to concerns with the public's perception of driverless trains, an "operator" was placed in the cab onboard and given make-work tasks including opening and closing the doors (it was possible for an operator to manually operate the train, if needed). Staff for the operation and maintenance of the trains were on loan from the Montreal Transportation Commission.
Stations
- La Ronde
- Ile Notre Dame
- Place Des Nations
- Place D'Accueil
- Habitat 67 (a single platform station for outbound trains only, but closed after a few days)
The central maintenance depot was a 3-track building located under the Jacques-Cartier Bridge at the yard on St. Helen's Island, near the La Ronde Station.
Equipment
The equipment used for the Expo Express trains were 48 aluminum 75-foot long rapid transit passenger cars ordered from Hawker Siddeley Canada, and built at their plant in Fort William (Thunder Bay), Ontario. They were similar in design to the Toronto Transit Commission's H1 class of subway trains. They were designed to operate in automated 6-car sets, with end cars that featured a stylized cab design and operator's compartment, while intermediate cars had no controls or cab compartment (the ends were identical to the non-cab ends of TTC H1's). Each had four traction motors per car, and a top speed of 50mph. The cars also featured three side doors instead of four, large square side windows, and were also air-conditioned - the first Canadian rapid transit equipment so equipped.
The cars were numbered using a letter-number combination. Initial numbering and marshalling of the equipment was in eight 6-car train consists in numerical order (cars were swapped out and changed over time as equipment required repairs or maintenance). All "A" and "F" cars in consists are cars with a cab at one end, all "B", "C", "D" and "E" cars are cabless intermediates:
| Train | Consist |
|---|---|
| 1 | A01, B02, C03, D04, E05, F06 |
| 2 | A07, B08, C09, D10, E11, F12 |
| 3 | A13, B14, C15, D16, E17, F18 |
| 4 | A19, B20, C21, D22, E23, F24 |
| 5 | A25, B26, C27, D28, E29, F30 |
| 6 | A31, B32, C33, D34, E35, F36 |
| 7 | A37, B38, C39, D40, E41, F42 |
| 8 | A43, B44, C45, D46, E47, F48 |
A ceremony for delivery of the first 6-car train was held at CP's Windsor Station in Montreal, Quebec on June 29th 1966 (delivered on its own wheels by a CP switcher). A set was also on display for a brief period in Toronto during September of that year.
A handful of cars had Canadian cities and towns that "sponsored" them, and received names:
| Car | Name | Province |
|---|---|---|
| A13 | St. Michel | QC |
| B13 | Pointe Clare | QC |
| C15 | St. Lambert | QC |
| D16 | Anjou | QC |
| A31 | Town of Mount Royal | QC |
| B32 | Burnaby | BC |
| C33 | Cornwall | ON |
| D34 | Metropolitan Toronto | ON |
| E35 | Pointe-aux-Trembles | QC |
| F36 | Richmond | BC |
Aftermath
After Expo 67, the line and equipment was sold to the City of Montreal, and the line saw limited operation for the "Man and His World" exposition for a few years until it was fully closed 1972. Stations and parts of the line were gradually demolished over time.
The train equipment was put into storage, and changed hands over the years with various plans and hopes of resale. One idea was the equipment could be resold to the Toronto Transit Commission, but the TTC reportedly found them too different to be suitable. Eventually, after years of languishing in storage without a buyer, all the cars were scrapped in mid-1995.
References
- McMann, Robert D. (1966, December). Expo67 Express. Upper Canada Railway Society (UCRS) newsletter #251.
- Lavallee, Omer (1967, July). Man and His Trains. Upper Canada Railway Society (UCRS) newsletter #258.