5 Of The Worst Montreal Metro Shutdowns That A Millennial Can Remember
- Although the Montreal metro system is ranked one of the best in the world, locals know that it experiences problems on the daily.
- From floods to hour-long delays, our beloved metro has seen it all.
- Read about some of the Montreal metro's worst service interruptions since 2007 below!
- Visit MTLBlog for more headlines.
Metro service interruptions in Montreal are all-too-common and for the most part, we take them in stride. Usually, a metro delay only lasts a few minutes and despite the annoyance, it's a fact of life. Montreal's metro system is one of the most efficient in the world but try saying that to any local and they'll roll their eyes and laugh. Trust me, it's true!
Our metro is iconic for not only its stunning architecture and questionable etiquette, but also for how it divides our city. On one hand, you have advocates who champion its effectiveness and on the other, people who wouldn't be caught dead riding the rails. And everyone hates when the metro gets delayed pretty much every single day.
In many cases, we only have ourselves, as humans, to blame for causing metro delays. A month-to-month study conducted by the STM shows that over 50% of metro delays are caused by riders.
While you experience them (almost) every day, let's take a trip down memory lane and check out some of the worst metro service interruptions since 2007!
2019: A Pepper-Spray Incident Shut Down 3 Metro Lines, Downtown Bus Routes, And Sent Two People To Hospital
C’est le chaos à Beaubien ... j’ai jamais vu ça en 20 ans à Montréal. #polmtl Le reste de ma route se fera donc à… https://t.co/2PZwXmvjAi— Carl Charest (@Carl Charest) 1547041977.0
In what can only be described as a series of unfortunate events, a discharge of pepper-spray shut down three metro lines and a number of downtown bus routes this January.
Though the delay only lasted under two hours, the STM was heavily criticized for their response to the situation.
READ ALSO: Orange Line Shutdown Extended As Locals Rename Flooded Station "Chutes De Square Victoria"
2007: Two Cracks In The Tunnel Running The Length Of A City Block Shuts Down The Green Line For A Whole Weekend
Back in 2007, workers found two huge fissures inside downtown metro tunnels. The cracks were so large that firefighters had to evacuate downtown office buildings and parts of the Underground City.
Due to safety concerns, the STM and city officials closed the Green Line between Lionel-Groulx and Berri-UQAM for a whole weekend.
2019: 2 Metro Car Tires Explode, Shutting Down The Orange Line For 4 Hours During Rush Hour
I guess you won't really know if you're claustrophobic unless you take the Montréal metro today #stminfo #STM https://t.co/yHsU1IJxPi— Sinclair (@Sinclair) 1547042347.0
The Orange Line between Berri and Henri Bourassa was closed for four hours this past April after two tires on the new AZUR Metro cars exploded. Workers had to physically tow away the broken metro.
As is tradition, the delay was during peak rush hour from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
2012: Protestors Detonate Three Smoke Bombs That Shut Down The Metro During Morning Rush Hour
Smoke bomb explodes today in the morning in the metro station in montreal http://t.co/aeJk4wLn— Mendy Sternfeld (@Mendy Sternfeld) 1336695924.0
During the student protests of 2012, four protestors coordinated a series of smoke bomb detonations during the early morning rush hour at three incredibly busy stations. Thousands were evacuated and the delay lasted from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. — so we can guess that many people were late to work that day.
The mayor at the time was understandably pissed and initiated a city-wide manhunt to find the four protestors.
2019: A Water Main Bursts, Shutting Down The Orange Line During Morning Rush Hour & Floods Square-Victoria Station
Not good. https://t.co/r6LbgSOCCq— Jay Turnbull (@Jay Turnbull) 1573739286.0
Much has been written about the flood incident on November 14, so here's a couple of videos that show the extent of what happened at Square-Victoria OACI.
At around 6:30 a.m., workers found that water had infiltrated the metro system because a water main had burst. Because of this, the entire Orange Line between Lionel-Groulx and Berri-UQAM was shut down for roughly six hours.
During rush hour, of course.
Needless to say, metro delays are a fact of life in Montreal. If we missed one or want to share your own metro nightmares, hit us up at @MTLBlog on all social media!
