Montreal Metro

The Montreal Metro (French: Métro de Montréal, pronounced [metʁo də mɔ̃ʁeal]) is a rubber-tired underground rapid transit system serving Greater Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The metro, operated by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), was inaugurated on October 14, 1966, during the tenure of Mayor Jean Drapeau.

It has expanded since its opening from 22 stations on two lines to 68 stations on four lines totalling 69.2 kilometres (43.0 mi) in length, serving the north, east and centre of the Island of Montreal with connections to Longueuil, via the Yellow Line (Line 4), and Laval, via the Orange Line (Line 2).

The Montreal Metro is Canada's second busiest rapid transit system in terms of daily ridership, delivering an average of 995,200 daily unlinked passenger trips per weekday as of the second quarter of 2025. It is North America's fourth busiest rapid transit system, behind the New York City Subway, Mexico City Metro and Toronto subway. In 2024, 330,767,700 trips on the Metro were completed. With the STM Metro and the newer driverless, steel-wheeled light metro system Réseau express métropolitain, Montreal has one of North America's largest urban rapid transit systems, attracting the second-highest ridership per capita behind New York City.

Urban transit began in Montreal in 1861 when a line of horse-drawn cars started to operate on Craig (now St-Antoine) and Notre-Dame streets. Eventually, as the city grew, a comprehensive network of streetcar lines provided service in most of the city. But urban congestion started to take its toll on streetcar punctuality, so the idea of an underground system was soon considered.

In 1902, as European and American cities were inaugurating their first subway systems, the Canadian federal government created the Montreal Subway Company to promote the idea in Canada.

Starting in 1910, many proposals were tabled but the Montreal Metro would prove to be an elusive goal. The Montreal Street Railway Company, the Montreal Central Terminal Company and the Montreal Underground and Elevated Railway Company all undertook fruitless negotiations with the city. A year later, the Comptoir Financier Franco-Canadien and the Montreal Tunnel Company proposed tunnels under the city centre and the Saint-Lawrence River to link the emerging South Shore neighbourhoods but faced the opposition of railway companies. The Montreal Tramways Company (MTC) was the first to receive the approval of the provincial government in 1913 and four years to start construction. The reluctance of elected city officials to advance funds foiled this first attempt.

The issue of a subway remained present in the newspapers but World War I and the following recession prevented any execution. The gradual return to financial health during the 1920s brought the MTC project back and attracted support from the premier of Quebec. This new attempt was stalled by the Great Depression, which saw the city's streetcar ridership atrophy. A subway proposal was next made by Mayor Camillien Houde in 1939 as a way to provide work for the jobless masses.

World War II and the war effort in Montreal resurrected the idea of a metro. In 1944, the MTC proposed a two-line network, with one line running underneath Saint Catherine Street and the other under Saint Denis, Notre-Dame and Saint Jacques Streets. In 1953, the newly formed public Montreal Transportation Commission replaced streetcars with buses and proposed a single subway line reusing the 1944 plans and extending it all the way to Boulevard Crémazie, right by the D'Youville maintenance shops. By this point, construction was already well underway on Canada's first subway line in Toronto under Yonge Street, which would open in 1954. Still, Montreal councillors remained cautious and no work was initiated. For some of them, including Jean Drapeau during his first municipal term, public transit was a thing of the past.