It runs on tires!
Montreal's metro system is pretty good if you live around the center of the Montreal island. It will get you to most places no problem. I would say it is almost as convenient as Hong Kong's MTR subway system.
Pretty large place compare to Vancouver's skytrain stations
There are only few cons I can think of about Montreal's metro
1.) There is no air conditioning in the train at all! It is pretty stuffy on a summer day like today. It gets worst when the train is pack full. I hear the city is looking to buy new trains for the metro. Please get trains that has air conditioning, this is year 2008 already.
2.) They only make announcements in French! Almost all the information postings are in French only too. I understand Quebec is a society where French is the majority, but this is extremely inconvenient for travelers and newcomers that know very little French. Even China, Japan or Hong Kong's metro system have English information available for tourist. Montreal is a major metropolis in the world. The signs and announcements in the public transportation system should be in both French and English.
I luck out with this shot, the train was actually moving quite fast
STM probably doesn't offer English services due to political reasons. They are probably afraid they will offend some of the Quebecois... When will these people understand that English is pretty much the standard international language for business and traveling. I agree that French culture should be protected and treasured in Quebec, but sometimes I think Quebecois go way over board to "protect" it. I just can not agree and understand with some of the principles in Quebec's Charter of the French Language. Do they understand that they are isolating themselves from Canada and the rest of the world by doing this?
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