{"id":681089,"date":"2026-05-20T03:50:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T03:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/681089\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T03:50:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T03:50:14","slug":"massive-tunnel-boring-machine-begins-drilling-montreals-blue-line-metro-extension-montreal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/681089\/","title":{"rendered":"Massive tunnel-boring machine begins drilling Montreal\u2019s blue line metro extension – Montreal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\tDescrease article font size<\/p>\n

\t\t\tIncrease article font size<\/p>\n

A major step is underway to extend Montreal\u2019s metro blue line east to Anjou, with excavation now officially in progress.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A massive tunnel-boring machine has begun drilling eastbound, launching what will be a two-year effort to carve out roughly five kilometres of tunnel and make way for five new stations.<\/p>\n

The machine itself is a striking piece of engineering, spanning three storeys in diameter and weighing about 2,000 tonnes. Built in Montreal over the past three months after arriving in February, the German-made drill is designed to break through rock and debris while simultaneously constructing the tunnel lining.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tMedia personnel are seen on the site of the planned Vertieres Metro station on the blue line of the Montreal subway during a media tour in Montreal on Tuesday, September 9, 2025.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tTHE CANADIAN PRESS\/Christopher Katsarov\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Officials say the project has been decades in the making.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cToday is a great day for the east end of Montreal,\u201d said Chantal Rouleau on Tuesday, MNA for Pointe-aux-Trembles. \u201cWe were waiting for that project for many, many, many years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Get<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGet daily National news<\/p>\n

Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you’ll never miss the day’s top stories.<\/p>\n

Project leaders say the specialized machine will allow crews to work efficiently, handling both excavation and finishing of the tunnel in one continuous process.<\/p>\n

The tunneller has been named after Lisette St-Onge, who became Montreal\u2019s first woman m\u00e9tro operator in 1981. The name was chosen through a public vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel great, I feel nervous, I feel happy,\u201d St-Onge said at the ceremony.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Click<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1:47
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTunnel-boring machine gears up to excavate Montreal metro blue line extension\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMore on Canada
\n\t\t\tMore videos\n\t\t<\/p>\n

Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada says the investment goes beyond this project, pointing to future development opportunities in the city\u2019s east end.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to keep this tunnel machine because we have so many other projects we need to do,\u201d she told reporters.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

Excavation is expected to continue until 2028. Officials say the project remains on schedule and on budget, with a targeted opening date of 2031.<\/p>\n

Once complete, the five new stations are expected to bring tens of thousands of additional users into the STM\u2019s metro network.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Click<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2:16
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMontreal names new metro stations in honour of women and minority communities\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\tPrevious Video<\/p>\n

\t\tNext Video<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Descrease article font size Increase article font size A major step is underway to extend Montreal\u2019s metro blue…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":681090,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338,226067,243587,28530],"class_list":["post-681089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-montreal","tag-montreal-metro","tag-stm","tag-tunnel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=681089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681089\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/681090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=681089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=681089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=681089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}