STM adds buses to relieve pressure on Metro's Orange line

Montreal's public transit agency is taking steps to relieve pressure on its jam-packed Orange Metro line, especially between the Beaubien and Berri-UQAM stations.

Dubbed "Mouvement orange," the plan aims to improve public transit service in the busiest sections of the Metro network by offering "fast, efficient bus alternatives with service to downtown," the STM announced Monday.

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said the plan will provide short-term relief in anticipation of larger infrastructure improvements.

"We are doing everything we can with the tools that we have," Plante said. "But in the medium, long term, there has to be more than that and that comes from other levels of government."

There are currently about 21,500 riders hopping on the Orange line between the Berri-UQAM and Beaubien stations — just five stops apart — during morning rush hour, the STM says.

STM Chair Philippe Schnobb explained that currently, the shortest interval between trains is 2:30.

It's not possible to decrease that number, thereby increasing train frequency, because it would require changing the security controls on of all the trains, he said on CBC's Radio Noon.

STM's proposed measures

The plan does include adding two trains to morning and afternoon rush hour Metro service, bringing the total number of trains running at those times up to nine. That starts Sept. 2. 

But the focus is on enhancing service on bus lines that connect and run parallel to that section of the Metro. The initial network improvements include:

• New express bus 445 Express Papineau. 
• Bus 435 will be divided to create a new 480 Express du Parc and 465 Côte-des-Neiges Express lines.  
• Bus service on lines 427, 80 and 165 will be improved. 

Three trains will also be on reserve to help ease pressure after emergency delays.

Schnobb said while these measures will help, there is still a "glaring need" to expand the city's Metro network.

At the same time, the transit agency is working to improve public transportation across the island, he said.

Last November, the STM announced a $1.46-billion budget for 2019 to improve metro, buses and paratransit services.

"The STM is currently reviewing its bus network as a whole and wants to play a greater role in this mode of transport by adapting it to the new realities, present and future," said Schnobb.

Quebec Transport Minister François Bonnardel says he will meet with the mayor and they discuss the measures in the coming days. He has promised to take her up on a long-standing invitation, and take a ride on the orange line. 

Bonnardel previously said he would take the the metro with Plante, but has yet to do so.