 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2008) |
 Looking east towards the portal of the Mount Royal Tunnel and Jean Talon Street at Canora station in June 2013. | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Line | Réseau express métropolitain (2025) |
| Location | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Crosses | Mount Royal |
| Operation | |
| Work begun | 1911 |
| Opened | 1918 |
| Closed | May 11, 2020 |
| Reopened | Fall 2025 [1] |
| Traffic | Urban rail transit |
| Technical | |
| Length | 5.3 km (3.3 mi)[2] |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
| Tunnel clearance | 14 ft 6 in (4.42 m) |
The Mount Royal Tunnel (French: tunnel sous le mont Royal, tunnel du mont Royal) is a railway tunnel in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The tunnel is the third longest in Canada, after the Mount Macdonald Tunnel and the Connaught Tunnel, and connects the city's Central Station, in Downtown Montreal, with the north side of Montreal Island and Laval and passes through Mount Royal.
The tunnel was originally proposed by the Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) to provide access to Downtown Montreal without having to cross the already-congested area south of Mount Royal or the route around it to the east. The cost of the tunnel, along with an expansion to the west coast of Canada, caused CNoR to struggle financially before it was nationalized in 1918. Canadian National Railways (CNR), formed from CNoR and several other lines, took over the just-completed tunnel. When CNR also took over the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) in 1923, access to Ottawa and Toronto along the GTR lines made the tunnel largely redundant, and it was limited mostly to branch lines. The structure gauge of the Mount Royal Tunnel limits the height of bilevel cars to 14 feet 6 inches (4.42 m).[3]
Until 2014, the only trains using the tunnel were commuter trains from Exo's Deux-Montagnes service. From December 2014 to May 2020, it was also used by the Mascouche line, which serves the northeastern part of Montreal Island and the suburbs of Repentigny, Terrebonne, and Mascouche. Exo also considered rerouting its Saint-Jérôme line to Central Station via the tunnel from its current termini at Parc or Lucien L'Allier to save 15 minutes.
On May 11 2020, the Mount Royal Tunnel closed for a period initially planned to be three years,[4] but is now expected to reopen fall 2025, more than five years later.[1] The reopening has been delayed due to the discovery of leftover explosives used during the original excavation of the tunnel, greater than expected deterioration at the south end of the tunnel, and various issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. [5] As part of the refurbishment providing exclusive use for the Réseau express métropolitain, two new stations will be added mid-tunnel.
- ^ a b "Completion of Montreal's new light-rail lines pushed to fall 2025". CBC. November 14, 2024. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
- ^ "100 Years of History: Secrets of the Mount Royal Tunnel". Réseau express métropolitain. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
- ^ Dufour, Marc. "CoupeTunnelDouble" (GIF). La ligne de banlieue Montréal - Deux-Montagnes & le réseau ferré de banlieue. Retrieved 2008-05-13.
- ^ "Mount Royal tunnel to close for about 3 years starting next week". Global News. May 8, 2020. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
- ^ "Work on the Mount Royal Tunnel: The challenges of modernizing a century-old structure". Réseau express métropolitain. May 30, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2024.