The Yellow Line, formerly also known as Line 4, is one of the Montreal Metro's four routes operating in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was popular when it opened for service because it connected Montreal's city centre with the Expo 67 exhibition and La Ronde on Île-Sainte-Hélène. The Yellow Line has three stations, and travels under the St. Lawrence River between the island of Montreal and Longueuil. It was part of the initial network of the Metro, and numbered in conjunction with Line 3, a route that was later cancelled. It is also the first Metro line to leave the island. All three stations on the line have been renamed since their opening.
History
In November 1961, Montreal City Council decided to build the Metro network. The Yellow Line was not part of the original plans. A year later, however, Montreal's bid to host the 1967 World's Fair was accepted. Construction of the Red Line was cancelled, and instead the Yellow Line was built to develop the exhibition site on two islands in the St. Lawrence River and to connect the rapidly growing suburb of Longueuil. The opening of the line took place on April 1, 1967. In the first four weeks, the station on Saint Helen's Island served only the construction workers of the Expo site. It finally opened to the public on April 28, 1967, the day after the official opening of Expo 67.
Future extensions
In June 2008 the City of Montreal proposed a number of service improvements and Metro extensions, including projecting the Yellow Line from Berri-UQAM to McGill station to ease congestion on that part of the Green Line. In December 2011, an extension to Longueuil was announced. The former Agence métropolitaine de transport published a study, Vision 2020 in December 2011. According to this study, there are plans for the Yellow Line to be extended further into the city of Longueuil along Roland-Therrien Boulevard. The six new stations would connect residential areas, shopping centers and several schools. The six proposed stations are at the following intersections:
Saint-Charles/Joliette
Saint-Charles/Saint-Sylvestre
Gentilly/Chambly
Gentilly/Roland-Therrien
Curé-Poirier/Roland-Therrien
Jacques-Cartier/Roland-Therrien
Rolling stock
From the line's opening in 1967 until 1976, MR-63 cars were used on the Yellow Line. Upon the introduction of the MR-73 cars in 1976, the latter stock displaced the older MR-63 cars. In 2008 MR-63 cars were once again in use on the Yellow Line; In 2017, the MR-63 cars began to be retired. In a matter of months, the STM has fully replaced all MR-63 cars with newer MPM-10. The last run of an MR-63 was in June 2018.
