Lionel-Groulx (Montreal Metro)

Infobox Montreal Metro
station= Lionel-Groulx


inaugurated=3 September, 1978 (Green line)
28 April, 1980 (Orange Line)
line=Green Line
Orange Line
architect= Yves Roy
depth= 12.5m metres (upper platform)
16.5m (lower platform)
depth-rank= 29th deepest
traffic= 3,912,623 entrances in 2006
traffic-rank= 19th busiest (excluding transfers)
distances=Green Line:
1077.31 metres to Charlevoix
1387.74 metres to Atwater----Orange Line:
579.60 metres to Place-Saint-Henri
530.60 metres to Georges-Vanier
addresses= 620, Atwater Street
intersections= Atwater Street / Saint-Jacques Street
Atwater Street / Delisle Street
Atwater Street / Lionel-Groulx Street [ [http://www.stm.info/English/metro/Lionel-Groulx.pdf Lionel-Groulx Station Neighbourhood Map] ] |

Lionel-Groulx is a station of the Montreal Metro rapid transit system operated by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM). It is located in the Saint-Henri area of the borough of Le Sud-Ouest in Montreal, Quebec, Canada [ [http://www.stm.info/English/metro/a-m36.htm Lionel-Groulx Station] ] . It is a transfer station between the Green Line and Orange Line.

The station served 3.9 million passengers in 2006 without including transfers. If they were included, it would be ranked among the top four busiest in the network with about 15 million passengers.

The station was inaugurated on September 3, 1978 as part of the extension of the Green Line to Angrignon, with service on the Green Line only, though the Orange Line platforms were built at the same time. They did not enter service until the extension to Place-Saint-Henri was opened on April 28, 1980. It was therefore the first transfer station to be opened after Berri-UQAM, in the original network.

Architecture and art

The station, built in open cut, features stacked platforms with central platforms between the lines; the orange line is to the south and the green line to the north. The platforms are arranged in an anti-directional cross-platform interchange, with the two inbound lines (Montmorency and Honoré-Beaugrand) on the upper level, and the two outbound lines (Côte-Vertu and Angrignon) on the lower level. This allows the majority of passengers to transfer by simply walking across the platform, without having to go up or down stairs. The station's mezzanine, suspended on beams, is located above the upper platform, and gives access to the single entrance.

The station was designed by Yves Roy. It contains two artworks: a pair of stainless steel mural sculptures by the architect over the mezzanine, and in the mezzanine itself, a sculpture called "The Tree of Life" by Italian artist Joseph Rifesser. Representing the races of humanity growing from a common root, it was carved from the entire trunk of a walnut tree, it was originally located at Man and His World and was given to the Montreal metro by the United Nations.

Origin of the name

This station is named for rue Lionel-Groulx, which had its name changed to allow the station to commemorate Lionel Groulx. Groulx, one of the most influential of Quebec historians, founded the Franco-American History Institute in 1946 and edited the "Révue d'histoire de l'Amérique française" from 1947 to 1967.

In November 1996, the League for Human Rights of B'nai Brith Canada officially requested that the Executive Committee of the Montreal Urban Community (M.U.C.) recommend a name change to the Lionel Groulx metro station in Montreal, due to anti-semitic statements made by Lionel Groulx.

Likewise, there has been a recent movement to rename the Lionel-Groulx Metro station in honour of Oscar Peterson. Although this movement started on the website Facebook, the story has recently been picked up by the media. The issue has become quite controversial and political.

Connecting bus routes

Regular STM routes

TM night routes

Nearby points of interest

*Atwater Market
*Église Saint-Irénée
*Union United Church
*Parc du Canal de Lachine
*CÉDA (Comité d'éducation aux adultes)
*Solin Hall (Off-Campus Residence of McGill University)
*With bus #211 or #221, with transfer to bus #204: Montréal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport

Trivia

Scenes of the Bruce Willis-Richard Gere film "The Jackal" were shot in this station, redressed to stand in for the Metro Center station on the Washington Metro.

References

External links

* [http://www.stm.info/English/metro/a-m36.htm Lionel-Groulx Station — official web page]
* [http://mtlmap.com/index.php?mapcategory=metro&locationid=36 Lionel-Groulx metro station geo location]
* [http://www.metrodemontreal.com/orange/lionelgroulx/ Montreal by Metro, metrodemontreal.com] — Photos, information, and trivia
* [http://www.stm.info/English/info/reseau2008.pdf 2008 STM System Map]
* [http://www.stm.info/English/info/centre-ville2008.pdf 2008 Downtown System Map]
* [http://www.stm.info/English/metro/a-mapmet.htm Metro Map]