The Montreal Metro is turning 50 years old this year, and many of its original MR-63 train cars are still in operation -- but you can buy one if you submit the right proposal.
The train cars are being phased out and replaced with sleek new models, so the STM (Societe de transport de Montreal) is now asking the public to think of ways the old cars can be given a second life.
A Metro motor car costs $1,000, trailer cars are $750, and there’s an additional estimated $4,000 for shipping within Montreal, for a grand total of about $5,000.
“In other (subway) systems, metro cars have ended up (becoming) everything from being clothing stores to restaurants to student cafes,” Montreal councillor and STM vice-chair Marvin Rotrand told CTV News.
For example, New York City authorities dropped 2,500 obsolete subway cars into the Atlantic Ocean to create artificial reefs.
Montreal hopes its Metro cars will be displayed within the city in a sustainable way. One proposal calls for using several of the cars to build a foot bridge that would link the Mile End neighbourhood with the Metro’s Rosemont station.
Residents in the neighbourhood have had to find ways around a line of CP train tracks to reach the station for at least two decades.
It’s an idea that came from the mind of digital designer Beat Richert, “to create this kind of by-Montrealers-for-Montrealers gift, for the 375th anniversary of the City of Montreal.”
All proposals must be submitted it to the STM by June 1, 2016. You can find out how to submit your proposal here.
With a report from CTV’s Kevin Gallagher in Montreal
