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Montreal streetcar tracks still pop up from pavement decades after last tram retired

Each spring, thawing asphalt in Montreal unearths pieces of a public transit past that disappeared more than 65 years ago, serving as reminders of the streetcar network that once dominated the city.
City officials decided to pave over the rails because removing them was costly and time-consuming, according to Benoît Clairoux, a historian with the transit agency Société de Transport de Montréal. The last batch of tramways was retired in 1959.
At the height of the network in the 1930s, there were about 500 kilometres of track and nearly 1,000 vehicles circulating, Clairoux said. Public transit ridership soared to almost 400 million rides in 1947, demonstrating the network's former importance.
Most recently, the transit authority Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain is calling for a 38-kilometre, 31-station tramway to serve eastern Montreal in a project dubbed Projet structurant de l'Est. Professionals are continuing necessary analyses and studies.
Transportation historian Pierre Barrieau says streetcars create permanent infrastructure allowing dense neighbourhoods to develop around them. While they "aren't magical," Barrieau notes they travel faster than buses and are better-liked by the population.

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Montreal streetcar are still unearthed from pavement decades after last tram retired

These days, the only place you'll find a working Montreal streetcar is at the Canadian Railway Museum south of the city. But each year, the spring thaw that cracks up the asphalt on city streets unearths pieces of a public transit past that disappeared more than 65 years ago.

1 day ago·Canada

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