Montreal transit agency unveils train maintenance center

The Agence metropolitaine de transport (AMT) last week inaugurated its new train maintenance center in Montreal's Lachine borough.

AMT will use the Lachine Maintenance Center to maintain commuter trains that travel on the Candiac, Saint-Jerome and Vaudreuil-Hudson lines, agency officials said in a press release.

The facility has enough space to accommodate 13 train sets. It also features a service inspection workshop that can contain a train set of 10 cars and two locomotives, as well as a major repair shop containing heavy equipment such as a bridge crane, a 100-ton decoupling table and automated inspection systems. Other equipment includes an automated train wash that cleans the exterior of a train set in five minutes, AMT officials said.

The $118.9 million project (in Canadian dollars) was funded by a public-private partnership known as PPP Canada and other national and local government sources.

"The government of Canada is proud to support projects like this one, which will provide a long-term solution to the development of public transit in the Montreal metropolitan region, in addition to improving the reliability and safety of the network for its passengers," said Canada's Minister of Transport Marc Garneau.