The short life of the Mount Royal funicular, a true gem of public transportation

Mount Royal, this magnificent natural space, has been active since the second half of the 19^e century, as a true lung for the city.

Urbanization

The city’s working population obviously does not live on the mountain, they rather live near the factories, near the Lachine Canal, the river or the railway tracks. Industrialization causes a population explosion. For example, between 1750 and 1840, the population of Montreal increased from 4,000 to 58,000 inhabitants. This situation raises significant public health issues. The pollution emitted by industries affects the working classes and quickly concerns public administrators. Montreal has a gray face and working families survive as best they can in a city that has practically no sewers, no running water and even less effective system for collecting garbage. Hygiene is poor and the city remains very fragile in the face of the proliferation of diseases, even epidemics. In this context, the few green spaces that the city retains become extremely valuable.

So, you can easily understand that hundreds of citizens react when owners of land located on the side of the mountain massively cut down trees to make firewood. Popular pressure forced the City of Montreal to acquire a large part of the mountain in 1869 to turn it into a vast public park.

A large park

After carrying out a few expropriations that cost taxpayers nearly a million dollars, the talented Frederick Law Olmsted was entrusted with the design of the park plans. At that time, this landscape architect had already shone by creating the famous Central Park in New York. Olmsted seeks through his urban park concepts to counterbalance the negative effects of industrialization. He is therefore redesigning Mount Royal while retaining the natural elements of the place, the idea is to give access to a great breath of oxygen to Montrealers.

Development work began in 1874. Two years later, the large Mount Royal Park officially opened its doors to the public on May 24, 1876. Although Olmsted’s initial plan was not followed to the letter, the park remains a place that highlights nature and invites relaxation.

Accessibility

The park becomes a meeting place for walkers and sports enthusiasts 12 months a year. Some are wondering about a way to mechanize the ascent to the summit.

This is where the idea of ​​building an inclined train attracts attention. This funicular would start from rue de Bleury (which we call avenue du Parc today) and climb up the eastern side of the mountain to the cross. After multiple changes to the plan and an invoice that cost more than five times what was initially planned, or approximately $54,000, the project took shape at the end of the summer of 1885.

The Mount Royal Park Incline Railway Co. inaugurates its new funicular on September 14. It costs 5 cents to go up to the top and admire the magnificent view and 3 cents to go back down. The climb, which is done in two stages, takes around five minutes. The first fall, the president of the company, Maxime Xavier Lefebvre, boasted of having transported more than 30,000 people to the summit. In subsequent years, annual ridership (April to October) is estimated at 90,000 passengers on average. A real success. The funicular even becomes a tool for transcending social classes in Montreal.

“If there are aristocrats who are reluctant to have the exclusive privilege of frequenting the upper parts of the park taken away, we hope that the city council will ignore their petty opposition. Our working population must have a place at the top as well as at the bottom.”

L’Étendard, The park railway

The popularity of the funicular continues unabated; managers will even extend its opening hours until 10 p.m., without increasing prices.

The agreement between the Mount Royal Park Incline Railway Co. and the City was established until 1900. However, after 15 years of operation, things took a turn for the worse. During negotiations for the renewal of the lease, the company requested a 25-year agreement to make profitable the investments necessary to keep the structure in good health, but the City was reluctant because it planned to manage the facilities itself.

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Degradation of the‘infrastructure

The managers of the funicular let the City know that their financial situation is fragile. They add that, even if the activity is lucrative, the maintenance of the equipment is very expensive, and daily operation requires a lot of costs. Thousands of dollars must be invested to modernize buildings.

These investments will never come, even if the funicular cabins are crowded during the summer.

At the turn of the First World War, the company began to lose money and expenses became more important than revenues. In 1918, nothing was working anymore, so we decided to cease funicular activities. To everyone’s surprise, the rolling stock and structures were sold for just over $50,000.

Montreal had just lost a true jewel of public transportation. Even today, we can see certain anchors to the ground of part of the structure which will have brought joy to thousands of Montrealers for 33 years.

Subsequently, Mount Royal Park will be deemed difficult to access for the working classes. They will often prefer Lafontaine Park, Sainte-Hélène Island and amusement parks better served by tram networks.

A new funicular project was considered in 1924, but it never came to fruition. After more than 100 years, the announced closure of the Camillien-Houde route to cars could well give some people the idea of ​​reviving this wonderful adventure of the funicular. Why not?

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