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New Montreal Metro cars debut
Also the rubber tired system negates any chance of tying into the existing rail system not to mention the need to create an expensive underground tunnel sytem.
Drapeau did put Montreal on the map but ultimately his dictatorial style of government led to costly mistakes being forced onto Montreal’s infrastructure (not to mention what the Montreal Olympic games did to the Province of Quebec’s finances!)
They run on rubber tires because the idea was developed in France (Paris Metro) and when in Montreal we must do the French, eh? The rubber tired metro system is a horrible mistake that Montreal won’t admit is a mistake. The cars are hot in the summer and oh, so noisy. The ride is rough and bouncy and the rubber tires have a maddening tendency to catch fire at the most inopportune times.
So, other than those minor problems the rubber-tired system is great!
Ive read that both the Paris and Montreal systems also have steel rail throughout, not just at switches, so the cars can settle down on their flanged wheels in case of blowouts. Is that correct? I agree that the Montreal system’s ride is bouncy, a lot less smooth than steel-on-steel.
I have always thought it interesting that Montreal’s Metro uses rubber-tired vehicles instead of steel wheel on steel rail vehicles. Wonder why?
Looks more like a bus.
Too bad Montreal Metro trains can’t use air conditioning because the whole system is underground. I’ve ridden during the summer when it’s been kinda warm. Just hot air blowing. That being said, it’s a pretty smooth ride.
AFIK, the Montreal Metro runs on rubber tires most of the time but drops back on steel wheels for switches. The horizontal wheels guide the train when running on the tires.
Back in 1963, using a rubber-tyred system made a lot of sense. This technology allowed stronger grades and tighter curves (at speed) than available on steel-wheel technology. Tunnels skirt around building basements, underground malls and utility pipes, avoiding the need for costly relocation or extra-deep tunnelling. Overall, the initial operating segment of the Metro opened in 1966 on-time and 30% under-budget.
Another major benefit of the rubber-tyred technology is the reduced vibration and noise levels to the tunnel, station and building structures. Riders may find it bouncy at times, but a lot of that can be blamed on the cars suspension, which is apparently much improved on the MPM-10.
Also, as far as I remember, that last major incident involving tires catching fire was back in 1974. What is disrupting service these days are riders holding doors that then get stuck open, or software problems with the signalling system (thanks Alstom).
Using the regular rail network was never ever intended, CN and CP could not handle fast electric trains running on a 3 minutes headway back then, and they can even less today. And, yes, rubber-tyred systems can operate outside, as currently done in Sapporo, Japan.
I have no doubt that advancements in steel wheel technology would void the need for rubber tires should a brand-new system was built today. But converting the whole system to steel wheel technology is unthinkable, the existing rails cannot be used because they do not have the right profile and they are laid on a concrete slab that does not absorb vibrations.
A line using steel wheels on steel rails was proposed many years ago but was never built. On vissits to Montreal in both 1980 and 1986 led me to think that the newer cars they had were air conditioned and I’ve since found out that that wasn’t true. Apparently the newer cars have much better cooling than the older cars.
Jean-François, you know better than that! 
Line 3 (Red) was to have used the CN line through the mountain starting from about Rue Notre-Dame through the tunnel to Eastern Junction (EJ) where the line would split. One leg would go along the CN line towards Montreal North (which had electric commuter service at the time) and the other would go up to Val Royal (once an engine change point) then take the now-removed Cartierville line to the area of the same name (it, too, had electric commuter service). All was to be conventional steel-wheel subway technology.
Canada had already been awarded a world’s fair by the time the plan came out, but from what I’ve read, the actual location was not yet known. As the Metro project progressed it was decided to hold Expo 67 on two islands in the St Lawrence R (one natural, the other man-made, supposedly built from the tunneling debris). At some point, Line 3 was canceled and instead, a Line 4 (Yellow) was built to serve the fair.
Thanks to J.F. Turcotte for an interesting and too brief discussion of rubber tire systems. I’d like to know more. The ignorance of some of the previous comments may be understandable, though nowhere do subways share track with standard railroads, but the smug, raw, prejudice of one of them is shameful and embarrassing.