Planners explained that logistical obstacles connected with the massive Turcot Interchange remake prevent the line from taking its natural course west, which would be along Highway 20, a route that they say would cost $1 billion extra.
So if you are one of the half million souls living in Lasalle (75k) Lachine (40k) NDG (65k) Westmount (20k) Cote St. Luc (5k) Montreal West (5k) Verdun (65k) Cote St. Paul (12k) Ville Emard (18k) Cote des Neiges (165k) you'd have to spend around 30 minutes to get downtown just to access the train.
So let's say you're living near city hall in Verdun and want to go to the airport. It would take you 30 minutes to get downtown and then another 30 minutes or more to get to the airport on the train, all told it would take one hour and a couple of fares, compared to a 15 minute drive in a Uber cab from your home.
If the line gets built as is, it would be most useful to later add a line from the airport to some place like Vendome if that could be made possible.
A train line from the airport to Angrignon metro would a slightly less impressive, but still useful alternative, as it would only need about eight kilometres of track.
Residents of such places as Cartierville (130k) and St. Laurent (93k) as well as St. Eustache (44k) and Pierrefonds (40k) look to benefit from the train line as proposed.
Ste Anne de Bellevue, which will become the western hub, stands to gain as the end-of-the-line although the station looks a little far from the gorgeous waterfront and village-like main street.