Montreal Metro still trying to replace ageing fleet

Montreal’s metro system is operated by the Société de Transport de Montréal (STM) and was first opened back in 1966, since then it has grown into one of the largest subways in the country and is the busiest in Canada with over 290 million trips taken on the system last year. The 759 trains that operate on the network are ageing and tired, having each carried an estimated 7900 people and plans are afoot to replace them.

Of the 759 or so vehicles in operation on the metro, around 300 of them have been STM’s workhorses since the 1960s and are among the oldest subway trains in the world, although the entire Montreal Metro remains one of the most reliable in North America, according to recent Montreal news reports.

Montreal news media reported in 2006 that there were 333 metro trains that STM wanted to have replaced. Initially, the company had decided to award the contract, worth around $1.9 billion, to Bombardier, the company that manufactured the MR-73s that run on the metro. Between 2006 and 2008 STM and Bombardier were in negotiations regarding cost controls, the specifications of the new trains and warranty issues.

However, a French company, Alstom, took legal action against STM for not carrying out a bidding process for the contract and in early 2008 Montreal news media reported that Quebec Superior Court Judge Joel Silcoff had ruled in Alstom’s favor. The company was therefore able to bid on the project, which delayed the expected date by which the new trains would be introduced to the metro.

However, the government of Quebec decided that it was in the interests of the public to open the bidding to international companies, such as CAF in Spain, the government contended that international bidding would provide the best price for STM, though the move was heavily opposed by Bombardier and Alstom and they instigated legal proceedings the same year, according to Montreal news reports.

However, in June of 2010, Quebec's Superior Court once more ruled that it was in the best interests of the public to allow CAF to bid as well. By this point, the future plans of STM had changed and the order value had increased to $3 billion, for the manufacture of 756 cars which would replace most of the current fleet. The deal also calls for the option to purchase a further 288 trains, in-line with STM’s significant expansion plans for the metro.

Bombardier's La Pocatière plant has been building M-7 electric multiple-unit commuter railcars for the Metropolitan Transit Authority in New York for the past several years, that project is now coming to an end and another big order is needed to keep the plant operating at its current capacity. For this reason, Bombardier has warned that it may need to layoff up to 185 staff if STM awards the contract to CAF.

The plane and train maker has further alleged that CAF will not be able to meet STM’s contractual demands, which call for 60% of all production to be carried out in Quebec.

“We find it incomprehensible that [CAF] meets the contract's demands,” Bombardier spokesperson Marc-André Lefebvre told Montreal news media. The company is headquartered in the city.

However, CAF spokesperson Philippe Roy has hit back saying that the Spanish company intends to build all the trains in Quebec. “We intend to open a plant in Quebec, create CAF Canada and do it all in Quebec,” he said, adding that the people of Montreal would now pay less for their new trains.

Meanwhile, STM has indicated that the ongoing bidding process may take a further several months, which may delay the production of new trains by up to two years.