The Years Leading Up to the Metro 1910-1966

Opening ceremonies for the metro of Montreal on October 14, 1966, were attended by officials from the Montreal Transportation Commission and municipal, provincial and federal governments, and also by Cardinal Paul-Émile Léger and representatives from the French Republic.

Here we present a series of short essays to illustrate, starting from the first drafts, the most important steps leading up to the construction of the metro. This will not be as such the story of its construction — amply documented — but rather the lesser-known stories of the different projects, studies and discourses, all of which culminated on November 3, 1961 in the official announcement of the construction of a metro in Montreal.

Even though the question was for decades at the core of many debates on the municipal scene, the story of the development of the metro is not a very well known one. As you will be able to judge, it is a rich and fascinating story that sheds new lights on the development of transportation in Montreal, and about which our archives are privileged witnesses. These historical documents were the principal sources used to prepare the following essays relating some of the highlights of the history of the metro in Montreal up to the beginning of its construction.

Next: An underground railway in Montreal in 1910

• A few dates
• History of the Bus in Montreal
• The origins of the STM