A new episode of irritating gas, the second in just over a week, once again forced the evacuation of several metro stations on the Orange line on Monday evening.
Around 10:45 p.m., service gradually resumed, after having been interrupted about 20 minutes earlier on the entire yellow line, on the green line between Saint-Laurent and Joliette stations and on the orange line between Sherbrooke and Lucien L. ‘Combine.
Several stations also had to be evacuated, confirmed the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), due to the triggering of its ventilation protocol.
“We cannot confirm the exact nature of the gas, but it appears to be cayenne pepper. It is necessary to interrupt the service on the neighboring sections and to evacuate several stations within a certain radius of the incident to allow the emergency ventilation of the tunnels and stations, in accordance with our protocols in force, “said a organization spokesperson, Justine Lord-Dufour.
It is more and more frequent in Montreal that the STM has to evacuate metro stations and paralyze entire lines of the network because a person, somewhere, has deliberately used capsicum aerosol or any other irritant gas, revealed The Press last Friday1.
This new “urban phenomenon”, which causes many headaches for public transport users, has tripled in 2022 compared to the previous year and is 10 times higher than 10 years ago.