You said you would massacre the names but holy crap, you didn't hold back ! hahahahahah

This was a great watch overall! Glad I was able to contribute and make a guest appearance in this video!

The classic Québec saga between different organizations fighting to grab more attention and power. STM, REM, EXO & ARTM are all independent agencies with little connection nor cooperation between each other. While in Toronto, Metrolinx, Go Transit & TTC have a clear authority power separation as well as legal status protection.

once again 10/10 if you dont wanna scroll through the chat

Actually, your solution is partially what was proposed from the start. The Mascouche line was doomed from the start because they choose somehow the worst proposal they had and that needed the construction of a whole new line between the two direction of the 640 highway. The proposal made in 2003 that was the préfères solution until march 2006 was actually two lines. The first one was starting in l’assomption follow the CN line into repentigny, then pointe-aux-trembles then more or less follow notre-dame street until it reaches gare centrale. Back then there was an existing track complete with bypass track for when a freight train would be in the way that followed that route but it was later removed. The second line was to start in Mascouche, stop in northern terrebonne, get to laval and branch off with the metro system. Everybody knew back then that the actual project was bad. A huge portion of why the project costed a lot more than expected is because the original project didn’t included any protection from the ammunition plant, which by the way have a freight line and a lot of houses closer than the train de l’est from the plant that are totally unprotected, so really how necessary was that protection ?

They need to extend the Mascouche line to Joliette!

You know it’s a good day when cowl and 19 do a video together

Mascouche is actually my favorite Exo line, its very calm and the section north of Pointe-aux-Trembles is beautiful

Really solid and well documented perspective for an outsider. As a user of the Mascouche line, there’s a couple of reasons why I think the post-REM situation might not be such a big deal. * In terms of transfers, the Côte-de-Liesse station appears pretty low effort. It’s not cross-platform (the “crème de la crème” of interchange configurations), but having seen the plans it looks like it’s going to be the easiest commuter-rail-to-metro transfer in Montreal (even better than some metro-to-metro transfers honestly). * Travel time should remain fairly the same for trips to Gare Centrale-Bonaventure, and they should dramatically improve for other major downtown stations like McGill, Griffintown, and major stations outside of downtown such as Édouard-Montpetit and YUL Airport. * Personally, fare integration and ticketing modernization has made me use the line more often than pre-COVID, and I’m confident that as this improves, the line will only get more interesting for residents. I do believe that fixing the exo Mascouche line comes down to moving away from the model of express shuttle between downtown and outer suburbs, and embracing a future where the service could be retooled as an orbital line. Recent origin-destination studies revealed that the traditional commuter rush hour travel pattern to downtown has been severely affected by structural changes post-COVID. Direct pendular heavy rail downtown connections likely has the least potential for growth. The Mascouche line does parallel some of the busiest bus lines in the city, but sees more use in low density off-island suburbs because it doesn’t really offer stops in that corridor and the frequency is too low to be interesting for people in inner city neighbourhoods. It did not help that it was a lot more expensive compared to buses before the last fare integration. Post-REM, there’s an opportunity to rethink the line, and by doing so adding much needed capacity and relief to buses running on Sauvé, which is a priority corridor for the regional transit planning authority. Improvements really only need to be concentrated between Côte-de-Liesse station and Anjou station. This upgrade project on that 10 km segment would require; * a little bit double tracking or sidings, * increased frequency, aiming for a train every 10-15 minutes in both directions, * expanded service with trains running off-peak and weekends, * a handful of new stations, spaced on average a little over 1 km * shorter train sets, maybe 2 to 4 config * possibly an additional maintenance centre specifically for this local high frequency segment. The rest of the line could continue to L’Assomption like you’ve suggested. As for the Quebec-Gatineau tracks (or is it CPCK?), I would really leave that corridor free for the maybe-high-speed-rail project and Saint-Jerome line improvements, and just extend the Pie-IX BRT to Mascouche.

Would love to see one of these for the Metrolink 91/Perris Valley line

Thank you for covering my nearest Exo line!

Nice + we need an exo iceberg

Love the collaboration with CUP

16:40 The roundabout route could also be used for supplementing services for local riders along the route!

I feel like a Masouche Line being turned into being a REM style service could work when there’s some proposals to have the REM be extended from Panama Terminus to Saint Jean-Sur-Richelieu. Candiac line extension to Saint Jean is cancelled due to trip length for riders, and the REM has sprouted good Transit Oriented Development. (Realized you said this in the video). Maybe connecting to a hopefully proposed REM de L’Est, to connect Masouche. Montreal Est seems to be relegated to redevelopment on former industrial sites, could be more reliable and usable than almost peak only commuter train. Also, concrete guideways than at grade level tracks to fix some sharp turns and long routings like on the Deux-Montages rebuild. The Alstom Metropolis trains can hit 100km/h or 63mph. Though would be interesting if they got the metro train to run on 25kV 60 Hz AC like the trains in Mumbai (though on 50Hz) , meaning it could possibly use the Mont Royal Tunnel maybe like some Japanese trains. With Metro and Commuter trains running on the same track on some segments.

Another solution to fix this line might be to get new rolling stock compatible with the REM signaling and loading gauge, Interlining the service and Terminating at Gare Central. Sort of like the Elizabeth line in London.

Other detail to clear up, the CN Deux Montagnes line had an average 23,000 riders per day, and ran with old CN EMUs and 1916 vintage boxcabs right up until 1993, when the line was upgraded and a year or so later the MR-90 EMUs took over

The saddest thing about the mascouche line is that it’s the only rail link in much of eastern Montreal, and it will be like that for the foreseeable future. Exo should really be at the forefront trying to find a solution, but their lazy asses won’t even try to make service better😢

nice video! Btw, the only pronunciation that was painful to hear was Deux-Montagnes It’s more so pronounced: “der mon-tang”

If I was in charge of the rem project I would expand the Mount Royal tunnel to 4 tracks three at the minimum to get the mascouche line into gare centrale and rebuild it to make it look more pleasant

I feel like if you extend to Farnham it should go all the way to Sherbrooke; Mont-Saint-Hilaire could also end up there, but that cuts off the possibility of Drummondville without branching.

Already guessing the next episodes. Next will be GO transit, then Metra, then finally Metrolink since those are the only commuter railroads left in north america with more than three lines. Maybe possibly RDT in Denver too even though that uses a mix of both commuter rail and light rail, technically there are already 4 commuter rail lines

4:25 also most of the houses in Montreal-Nord at the time were about a mile and a half away at the time. The Metro kind of killed it in 1968.

Great video, as a Montrealer it's hard to pronounce some of the French names.

If you need any help with the Go Transit Episode let me know. I live right next to the branch witch I think will be featured in the Go Transit episode. Great job on this episode.

BTW, you should be aware that since this is in Canada, the ADA -- *_Americans_* with Disabilities Act -- does not apply here. Unfortunately, there is no national or even provincial law (or set of laws) that even comes close to what the ADA requires for accessibility. As a person with mobility issues, I am frequently faced with challenges. (An example, I would have liked to attend a show at a small, local theatre. While the building is wheelchair accessible, the bathrooms are not.) While I applaud your brave attempts at pronouncing French names, there are many free translation apps that would have at least given you an idea of how to pronounce the names properly. Google Translate is one that comes to mind.

Provolone cheese

Nice try, but EXO 50 minutes VS 10 minutes will never convince people other than rail fans to ride. Already no one takes the long detour when they can ride the Metro to the Mascouche line from Bonaventure to Sauve in about 15 minutes and save over a half hour travel time

Official CNW comment: fixing your branch line Metra heritage corridor next?

It was fun seeing Cowl Unit Productions on here.

This is the first episode of _Fixing_ _Your _Branch_ _Line_ that I watched, and I find this quite informative! I was thinking that the Mascouche Line was quite strange, especially after REM "did a PATCO" on the Deux-Montagnes Line. I'm not even Canadian, but now that you provided the antidote, I'm hoping that EXO keeps the Central Station connection for two of the Mascouche trains. Thanks for making this video! Also, I might check out Cowl Unit Productions later!

When is the REM part of Mascouche going to be ready?

Cant wait!

great video 🚅🚃🚃

"dew montages" lol

quality of the video 10/10 quality of the french name prononciation 4/10 🥲 love that you tried haha

Couldn't you just have the solution be "cancel REM"? Also, which Go Transit line are you doing next? My money's on Richmond Hill.