Today is the final day of operation for the Deux-Montagnes line of Montreal commuter railroad Exo.
The shutdown marks the end of more than 100 years of service on the electrified route, which, for most of its history, ran through the Mount Royal Tunnel to Montreal’s Central Station. The line will be replaced by a portion of the REM light rail service, a 61.5-mile system now under construction, but will be left without rail service until the end of 2024. Service had already been cut back from downtown to the Bois-Franc station so work could begin on the tunnel [see “Metra to add service on Electric District,” Trains News Wire Digest, May 6, 2020]. The closure of the line was moved up by six months because ridership had dropped by more than 90%, the Montreal Gazette reported earlier this year.
