Candiac line

Candiac (also designated exo4, formerly known as Delson-Candiac) is a commuter railway line in Greater Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is operated by Exo, the organization that operates public transport services across this region.

Candiac
A train at Montreal-West station
Overview
Owner	Exo
Line number	CA
Locale	Greater Montreal
Termini	Lucien-L'Allier Candiac
Stations	9
Website	Candiac line (RTM)
Service
Type	Commuter rail
System	Exo
Operator(s)	Bombardier
Daily ridership	4,875 (2018) [1]
Ridership	1,267,500 (2018)
History
Opened	1887
Technical
Line length	25.6 km (15.9 mi)[2]
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map

Candiac line
Windsor Station Lucien-L'Allier Lucien-L'Allier Westmount Vendôme Vendôme A-15 Montréal-Ouest originally Montreal Junction Saint-Jérôme line Vaudreuil–Hudson line A-20 Du Canal Lachine Canal LaSalle Zone 1 Zone 5 Saint-Laurent Bridge over Saint Lawrence River A-730 Sainte-Catherine Saint-Constant Delson A-15 Candiac layover facility

The Candiac line was originally operated by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) as part of its South-Eastern railway line between Windsor Station and Farnham from 1887 until 1980. The former AMT resumed passenger service on this line in 2001, while Exo assumed current service on June 1, 2017.

There are nine inbound and nine outbound trains each weekday.[3]

Overview

This line links the Lucien-L'Allier station in downtown Montreal with Candiac, on Montreal's South Shore.

The line offers nine departures every weekday towards Montreal and nine return trips to Candiac every weekday. Most departures are during rush hour, but three are offered during off-peak hours in each direction.[3]

History

AMT service

The former Agence Métropolitaine de Transport (AMT) started service on this line on September 4, 2001 with two round trips every day. One trainset was used for both departures. In September 2003, service was increased to four round trips per day and a second trainset was used. Service was extended to Candiac in 2005, at which point the line was renamed as the Delson-Candiac line. In 2009, two additional departures were added in each direction with leased trainsets being used until new locomotives and rolling stock is received.

Service on the line was suspended from February 17, 2006 to March 9, 2006 after the derailment of six Canadian Pacific freight cars on February 17. The freight cars derailed on the Saint-Laurent Railway Bridge used by the train service. This was one of the longest disruptions in train service for the AMT. High winds were a factor in that derailment. In September 2013 CP banned AMT's multilevel coaches from the bridge during high wind conditions (85 km/h or more), deeming them potentially unstable in such conditions. Since then AMT has used only its single-level 700 series coaches on this line.

The line was renamed on July 1, 2010 from "Delson-Candiac" to simply "Candiac" to standardize formatting across the network.[4]

On January 16, 2017, a new station named Du Canal was opened on Saint-Joseph Boulevard in Lachine. This project was part of the MTQ's mitigation measures for the reconstruction of the Turcot interchange.

RTM service

On June 1, 2017, the AMT was dissolved and replaced by two new governing bodies, the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM) and the Réseau de transport métropolitain (RTM). The RTM took over all former AMT services, including this line.

In May 2018, the RTM rebranded itself as Exo, and in that process updated all line names with a number each and updated their line colours. The Candiac line became Exo 4, and its line colour was updated to a lighter pastel shade of green.

Future projects

To improve service and attract new users on the Candiac line, the ARTM will carry out two major projects:[5]

• Improve railway infrastructure on the Adirondack/Lacolle subdivision. The $20-million project includes improving signaling, adding a siding for freight trains, refurbishing switches and improving pedestrian crossings. Work was scheduled to be completed by 2014.
• Build a new layover facility (overnight service and storage yard) at the end of the line. Construction is linked to the railway improvement project above.

The possibility of extending the Candiac Line another 20 kilometres beyond the new layover facility to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and Saint-Philippe was also examined by the Quebec Government in 2014. In 2016, the study's final report rejected that option, citing longer travel times by train for people in the area.

List of stations

These stations are on the Candiac line:

Station	Location	Connections	Zones
Lucien-L'Allier	Ville-Marie, Montreal	Lucien-L'Allier Metro station Downtown Terminus STM: 36 (on rue Saint-Antoine),150, 358, 410, 430, 435 (on René Lévesque Boulevard)	1
Vendôme	Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal	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 Upper Lachine Road), 37, 90, 102, 104, 105, 124, 371 (same corners as 17) & 24, 63, 356 (these last three one block north on Sherbrooke Street west[6][7])
Montréal-Ouest	Montreal West	STM: 51, 90 (250 metres south on rue Saint-Jacques), 105, 123, 162, 356
Du Canal	Lachine, Montreal	STM: 90, 191,195, 356, 491
LaSalle	LaSalle, Montreal	STM: 110, 495.
Sainte-Catherine	Sainte-Catherine	Exo: 33, 38, T30	5
Saint-Constant	Saint-Constant	Exo: 30, 34, 35, 40
Delson	Delson	Exo: T36
Candiac	Candiac	Exo: T36

The commuter line operates over these Canadian Pacific Railway lines:

Subdivision	Start		End
Westmount Subdivision	Lucien L'Allier	00.1	Montreal West	04.6
South Junction Lead	Montreal West	00.0	South Junction*	00.7
Adirondack Subdivision	South Junction*	43.9	Candiac	33.2

Note: South Junction is not a passenger stop.

References

1. https://exo.quebec/Media/Default/pdf/section8/publications/RA_2018_exo.pdf
2. "Rapport d'activités 2010" (PDF) (in French). Agence métropolitaine de transport. 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
3. "Ligne Candiac" (PDF). AMT. 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-09-19. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
4. Leduc, Robert (2010-07-01). "Nouveaux noms des lignes de trains de banlieue (New names for commuter train lines)" (in French). Montreal Express. Archived from the original on 2010-07-04. Retrieved 2010-07-02.
5. AMT PTI 2012-1013-2014 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-02-11. Retrieved 2012-06-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
6. "Plan du Reseau STM 2007" (PDF). STM. 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-05-15.
7. "Plan du Reseau de Nuit STM 2006" (PDF). STM. 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-26.

External links

• Official RTM website