Vaudreuil–Hudson line

Vaudreuil–Hudson Line
An inbound train at Vendôme Station.
Overview
Type	Commuter rail
System	Agence métropolitaine de transport
Locale	Greater Montreal
Termini	Lucien-L'Allier Station Vaudreuil, Hudson
Stations	18
Ridership	3,763,500 (2014)
Line number	VH
Website	AMT - Vaudreuil-Hudson line
Operation
Opened	1887
Operator(s)	Canadian Pacific Railway
Technical
Line length	64.2 km (39.9 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map 250px

Vaudreuil-Hudson Line
Legend
x20px Windsor Station x20px Lucien-L'Allier Lucien-L'Allier Westmount Vendôme Vendôme x20px x20px x20px A-15 Montréal-Ouest originally Montreal Junction 16px 16px x20px x20px x20px A-13 Lachine Zone 1 Zone 2 x20px x20px x20px A-520 Dorval Pine Beach Valois Pointe-Claire Cedar Park Zone 2 Zone 3 Beaconsfield Beaurepaire Baie-D'Urfé Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Zone 3 Zone 4 x20px Lake Saint-Louis Île-Perrot Pincourt/Terrasse-Vaudreuil x20px Zone 4 Zone 5 x20px St. Lawrence River Dorion Vaudreuil Zone 5 Zone 6 A-40 Hudson Rigaud

The Vaudreuil–Hudson line (formerly the Dorion–Rigaud line) is a commuter railway line in Greater Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is operated by the Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT), the umbrella organization that plans, integrates, and coordinates public transport services across this region.

The Vaudreuil–Hudson Line was originally established in 1887 as a Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) passenger service. It was transferred to Société de transport de Montréal (STCUM) on October 1, 1982. It was refurbished between 1982 and 1990. On January 1, 1996, it was transferred to the AMT.

There are 13 inbound and 14 outbound departures each weekday.

Overview

This line links the Lucien-L'Allier station in downtown Montreal with Hudson to the west of the Island of Montreal. With the completion of a new Intermodal station in Vaudreuil, all trains that used to end in Dorion, now end in Vaudreuil.

The line offers frequent peak-hour service (roughly every 15-20 minutes) to or from Vaudreuil. Outside of rush hours and on weekends, service is approximately every two to five hours. There is only one weekday round trip from the Hudson terminus. This is the only line in Montreal to offer semi-express service; reverse peak trains do not stop at certain smaller stations.

The trains are owned and managed by the Agence métropolitaine de transport, and operated by Canadian Pacific.

History

Service on this line started in 1887. Service began with local stops between Montreal and Rigaud being added to trains running between Montreal and Ottawa. Over time, as the population of the western part of the Island of Montreal increased, Canadian Pacific established a dedicated commuter service with several stops on the Island of Montreal and off the western tip of the Island. Over the past 50 years, service patterns on the line have not changed all that much. The average number of weekday round trips has hovered around 12, with weekend and holiday service averaging 3 or 4 trips depending on whether the day is Saturday or Sunday.

The commuter line was owned and operated by Canadian Pacific until October 1, 1982. On that date, management and ownership of the commuter trains was transferred to the publicly owned Montreal Urban Community Transit Commission (STCUM). The STCUM set fares and schedules, and assumed ownership of the equipment (passenger cars and locomotives) that Canadian Pacific had used to operate the service. Canadian Pacific continued to provide the tracks, stations, storage, maintenance, and train crews needed to keep the line running. For Montreal commuters, the transfer of ownership was positive because the trains were integrated into the bus and metro system. Over time, the commuter line was upgraded with the purchase of new equipment and renovated stations. The line was transferred to the newly formed AMT on January 1, 1996.

On July 1, 2010, service to Rigaud was discontinued, as the town of Rigaud was unable to justify a $300,000 annual fee, almost double the previous annual fee of $160,000 required by the AMT to maintain train service for a handful of users. The line now ends at Hudson; the 13-km distance between Rigaud and Hudson represented some 17% of the line's total length. At this time the line was renamed: "Dorion" was replaced by "Vaudreuil" in reference to the terminus for most runs, and "Rigaud" was replaced by "Hudson" in reference to the terminus for the extended service.

Future projects

To ease over-crowding and attract new users the AMT, Aéroports de Montréal (ADM), Transport Canada and Via Rail have jointly developed a wide-ranging proposal that includes the enhancement of commuter train and inter-city train service between Downtown Montreal and the West Island of Montreal. The Train de l'Ouest proposed rail shuttle between Trudeau airport and downtown Montreal would make the trip in under 20 minutes and have departures every 20 minutes. This 20 km (12 mi) long route would be built in a right of way reserved for passenger trains, which will accelerate access to the airport from the downtown core. The choice of final downtown destination would be Central Station. The expected end date for the entire project is 2020.

List of stations

Station	Location	Connections
Lucien-L'Allier	Ville-Marie, Montreal	Lucien-L'Allier Metro station, Downtown Terminus (Terminus RTL), Société de transport de Montréal (STM) 36 (On rue Saint-Antoine),150, 358, 410, 430, 535 (On René Lévesque Boulevard), 935 Trainbus Blainville / Centre-Ville (one block away at the corner of René Lévesque Boulevard and Peel Street).
Vendôme	Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal	(connection to Vendôme Metro station) STM 17 (north bound at the corner of Decarie Boulevard and De Maisonneuve Boulevard, south bound at the corner of rue Girouard and chemin Upper Lachine),37, 90, 102, 104, 105, 124, 371 (same corners as 17) & 24, 63, 356 (these last three one block north on Sherbrooke Street west).
Montréal-Ouest	Montreal West	STM 51, 90 (250 metres south on rue Saint-Jacques),105, 123, 162, 356.
Lachine	Lachine, Montreal	STM 195 (400 metres south on Sherbrooke Street).
Dorval	Dorval	Via Rail, PET Airport, STM 173(Metro Bus),191, 195, 202, 203, 204(To and from PET Airport), 209, 211, 354, 356, 378 (Eastbound only), 405, 411(MB), 425, 460, 485.
Pine Beach		STM 204, 211, 354, 356, 411 (MB).
Valois	Pointe-Claire	STM 203, 204, 356.
Pointe-Claire		STM 203, 211, 354, 405, 411(MB), 425.
Cedar Park		STM 201 (North only), 202, 211, 354, 411(MB).
Beaconsfield	Beaconsfield	STM 200, 201, 211 (500 metres south on Beaconsfield Blvd.),217, 261(Train Bus), 354, 382, 411(MB).
Beaurepaire		STM 354, 411(MB).
Baie-d'Urfé	Baie-D'Urfé	STM 219 (300 metres north on Avenue Clark Graham), 354, 411(MB).
Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue	Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue	STM 251, 290 (Collective Taxi), 291 (CT), 354. CIT La Presqu'Île 21, 33, 44.
Île-Perrot	Île-Perrot	CIT La Presqu'Île: 41, 42, 43, 44.
Pincourt/Terrasse-Vaudreuil	Pincourt / Terrasse-Vaudreuil	CIT La Presqu'île: 31, 32, 33, 44.
Dorion	Vaudreuil-Dorion	CIT La Presqu'île: 3, 5, 15.
Vaudreuil		CIT La Presqu'île: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 15, 21, 40, 51, 61, 91. CIT du Sud-Ouest: 2.
Hudson	Hudson	CIT La Presqu'île: 21.

The commuter line operates over the following Canadian Pacific Railway subdivisions:

• Westmount Subdivision (between Lucien L'Allier [0.1] and Montreal West [4.6]
• Vaudreuil Subdivision (between Montreal-West [0.0] and Dorion [18.9]
• M&O Subdivision (between Dorion [0.0] and Rigaud [16.5]

External links

• AMT's Vaudreuil-Hudson schedule