Mascouche line
The Mascouche line (also designated line 15, known during planning as Repentigny–Mascouche) is a commuter railway line in Greater Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is operated by Exo, the organization that operates public transport services across this region. Opened on December 1, 2014, by Exo's predecessor agency, the Agence Métropolitaine de transport (AMT), the Montreal region's sixth commuter train line required the construction of 10 new train stations, several civil engineering structures and 13 km of new railway track. This includes some track in the median of the A 640 between Repentigny and Mascouche. Beginning on May 11, 2020, the Mascouche line was rerouted around the Mount Royal Tunnel, bypassing and stations due to the construction of the Réseau express métropolitain (REM). In 2024, will open as the Mascouche line's new southern terminus, replacing . Riders wishing to reach Central Station must transfer to the REM at Côte-de-Liesse. Overview The line was announced as the Repentigny-Mascouche line in a press conference on March 17, 2006, and follows a major campaign by the residents of eastern Montréal and the north-eastern suburbs to restore commuter rail service. The line used the Mount Royal Tunnel and Canadian National track from Montreal's Central Station to Repentigny. New track was built from Repentigny to Terrebonne along the Autoroute 640, before turning towards the Trois-Rivières Subdivision of the Chemins de fer Québec-Gatineau at Mascouche. Most of the route, in particular the section after Mont-Royal to Repentigny, follows a similar path to the never-built Line 6 of the Montreal Metro, which was planned as a steel-wheeled "regional metro" line using a somewhat similar alignment. The journey time between Mascouche and downtown Montreal (using the pre-2020 alignment before the closure of Mount Royal Tunnel) was 61 minutes. Originally estimated at $300 million and expected to open in 2008, the line costed $670 million and opened in 2014. It has 13 stops (10 new, 3 existing) and offers eight departures in each direction per weekday, mainly during rush-hour. Locomotives On May 14, 2007, the former Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT) and New Jersey Transit put out a joint call for tenders to purchase dual-powered locomotives. In Montreal, the locomotives switch to electric power at Mont-Royal (this was originally planned for Ahuntsic) to enter Mount Royal Tunnel to Central Station. This international project is the first of its kind in North America. Twenty locomotives of type ALP-45DP were delivered to the AMT from Bombardier Transportation. They now haul the RTM's 3000-series Bombardier MultiLevel coaches, in groups of 5 or 6 cars. History Two former commuter train lines ran along part of the route of the line. CN Montreal North commuter line CN operated a commuter service from Central Station to Montreal North from 1946 until November 8, 1968. An electric locomotive and several coaches ran one round trip a day in each direction, in rush hours only. Stations going east along the CN St Laurent Subdivision from Eastern Junction where it meets the Deux-Montagnes line were: Boulevard, at boulevard St. Laurent,