Expo Express

For the train service for the Expo 2000 world fair at Hanover, see ICE 3.

Expo Express
Front view of Expo Express train at Place d'Accueil terminal in Cite du Havre
Overview
Status	Demolished
Owner	Expo 67 City of Montreal (1968)
Locale	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Termini	Place d’Accueil La Ronde
Stations	5
Service
Type	Rapid Transit
Rolling stock	Hawker Siddeley H1 variant; 8 × 6-car sets
History
Opened	April 1967
Closed	October 1972
Technical
Line length	5.7 km (3.5 mi)
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification	Third rail 600 V DC
Route map Maintenance center La Ronde LeMoyne Channel Notre Dame East opened 1969 Notre Dame LeMoyne Channel Saint Helen Saint Lawrence River Habitat 67 closed 1967 Place d’Accueil closed 1969

The Expo Express was a rapid transit system consisting of five stations and a 5.7-kilometre (3.5 mi) route, running from Cité du Havre to La Ronde in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Built for the 1967 World's Fair (Expo 67) at a cost of around CAD$18 million, the trains carried 1,000 passengers each and ran approximately every five minutes.

In 1968 the cars were sold to the City of Montreal for $1.8 million and operated by the Montreal Transit Commission (now the STM). The train remained in service for Man and His World for five additional years, however, on a shortened route from 1969-onwards when tracks were cut back to Saint Helen's Island. The service was withdrawn in late 1972.

Vehicles

Interior of Expo Express train looking toward front

Interior of Expo Express train looking toward rear of car

Not to be confused with the Minirail monorail which ran within the perimeters of the Expo Site, the Expo Express used standard railway technology, with two running rails and a third electrified rail identical to those of the Toronto subway. In fact, the trains used were a modified version of the Hawker Siddeley H series used by the Toronto Transit Commission with one fewer door on each side, and streamlined ends. Consequently, unlike the Montreal Metro with rubber tires, the Expo Express used traditional steel-wheeled trains. The Expo Express also featured fully air-conditioned passenger cars, unlike Montreal's underground Metro system which opened the previous year (a deficiency that still exists to present day).

In 1968, the New York City Transit Authority looked into the feasibility of modifying the cars for use on the Staten Island Railway, but this plan never came to fruition.

Background

The Expo Express was the first fully-automated rapid transit system in North America, utilizing an Automatic Train Operation (ATO) system based on audio frequency track circuits furnished by the Union Switch & Signal division of Westinghouse Air Brake Company. This fact, however, was not widely publicized during the fair, as it was felt the public would not readily board a train controlled entirely by a computer. Operators from Montreal's transit union were placed in cabs at the front and given mundane tasks such as opening and closing the doors of the train to reduce boredom.

This resulted in a minor incident during the fair, at La Ronde station. The conductor had pressed the button to close the doors and proceed, but his train had already sensed an oncoming express from Notre Dame Island and automatically delayed the go command to let it roll in. In the meantime, the driver realized he had forgotten his lunch. However, he could not exit through the passenger doors because his train was in a "wait" state and would not allow the doors to open. Instead, he crawled through the small cab window. By the time he had fetched his lunch, however, the oncoming train had pulled in and his train had taken off on its own. It crossed the bridge over the Le Moyne Channel, proceeded along the seaway, and came to a smooth stop at Notre Dame Island station where an Expo official was waiting. This person crawled back through the cab window and pressed the button to open the doors and let the passengers disembark.

Route

Model board at Expo Express control centre at Place d' Accueil terminal showing line layout

Control console at Expo Express control centre at Place d' Accueil terminal

The route had 5 stations: Place d'accueil, Habitat '67, Place des Nations, Ile Notre-Dame and La Ronde.

The line started at the southern end of Cite du Havre, with the Place d'accueil station adjacent to the Bonadventure Expressway. It headed north, where a half-mile down, was the Habitat '67 station (eliminated early on, due to low use) after which it turned east and crossed over the Saint Lawrence river by means of the Concordia Bridge. The next stop was on Saint Helen's island, with the Place des Nations station situated on the Concordia bridge, between Places Des Nation and Swan Lake. It was followed by another river crossing to Notre-Dame Island, with the Ile Notre-Dame station on the another section of the Concordia bridge, and just next to the Man the Producer pavilion. From there, the line turned northwards until crossing a westwards dedicated train bridge that lead to the terminus at La Ronde station, at the very entrance of the fairground. Service tracks beyond that lead to the Expo Express' maintenance yard and its storage tracks.

The line was double-track throughout, except for a single-track section at Cité du Havre, where people exited on one side of the train and boarded on the other. Shortly after Expo opened, due to unexpected network congestion, the Cité du Havre line was changed to double-track to accelerate passenger movement. All the Maintenance facilities were located northwest of La Ronde station.

In 1969, the Cite du Havre line was closed and dismantled, and the starting point was cut back to Place des Nations on Saint Helen's Island (initially single-tracked as well). The same year the former Habitat '67 station (outbound only; which closed in early 1967) was physically relocated to Notre Dame Island, near the Man and Agriculture pavilion, and renamed Notre-Dame East station (inbound only).

In 1972 all stations on Notre Dame Island closed, making the route direct from Place des Nations to La Ronde station with no stops in between.

History

The Expo Express ran from April 1967 to October 1972 (one year after the section of Man and his World on Notre Dame Island section closed to the public). After Expo, when service continued during the early days of Man and His World, the Express only ran for two months each year. After service was discontinued, in 1973 the trains were put in storage on the Concordia Bridge between Saint Helen's and Notre Dame Islands. The line north of Notre-Dame Island was demolished in 1974 for for the construction of the Olympic basin. In the summer of 1979 the trains were moved again, to the Port of Montreal via a temporary track, and stored at the nearby CN Point St-Charles Shops.

After several unrealized schemes including a reported sale to the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, the cars were moved from Point St-Charles to an outdoor field storage facility in Les Cèdres in the mid/late 1980s, and were scrapped in 1995.

Virtually nothing remains of the Expo Express. The only evidence is at La Ronde, where a train bridge deteriorates in the river and remnants of the La Ronde station have been converted into the main park entrance. The area where Place d'Accueil stood is now a parking lot, and part of the track route is a paved bicycle path.

External links

• Media related to Expo Express at Wikimedia Commons
• Expo-Express Sheet
• Expo-Express of Expo 67
• MTC driver with two ladies and Expo-Express train at Place d’accueil
• Expo 2000
• Get to Expo
• Dave Railpix - Expo 67 Metro
• Transit History of Montreal, Quebec