It was also at the time that larger cars were introduced with transverse seating as well as air brakes.
By the year 1910 the speed of the streetcar had doubled to 50 miles per hour and its safety had improved. It even had heaters something that came in very handy during the cold Montreal winters. The fare was five cents and there were 600 cars carrying about one hundred and forty three million passengers per year over a distance of approximately 140 miles.
The first modern trolley bus services introduced in Canada was in the year 1937 and by 1939 the Montreal Tramways Company, as it was now known, consisted of 929 streetcars, 7 trolley buses, 224 regular buses and it served approximately 200 million passengers a year.
The last tram was pulled off the streets of Montreal on August 30th 1959 and the last trolley bus ended its final run on June 18th 1966.
Montreal's famous métro commenced operations in time for Expo 67' on the 17th of Oct 1966. The idea to build a métro dates back however to 1910.
In 1962 Montreal commenced construction of its métro system and 4 years later it opened with 26 stations and 3 lines that were known as the green, orange and yellow lines. Today it can boast that it transports over 700, 000 commuters per day. It can travel at a speed of 72 kilometres an hour or 44 miles an hour.
The first métro station to display a work of art was the Place-des-Arts station which was inaugurated on the 20th of December 1967. This work of art is entitled "L'histoire de la musique à Montréal by the artist Frédéric Back. It is very appropriate to have this work on display at this particular locality, as it is the entrance to Montréal's famous concert hall, Place des Arts.
The most passengers to be transported by the métro on any one day were on the 11th of September 1984 (which unfortunately is now a tragic date for the world) when the Pope visited Montréal. On that day the métro transported 2 million passengers to Jarry Park to hear the Pope conduct his religious services.
