Glossary
GLOSSARY

See also Station Equipment and Services.

Bridge
A walkway over the track that joins two platforms.
French: passerelle.

Bulkhead
The wall at either end of the platforms, penetrated by the mouth of the tunnel.
French: mur tympan.

Car
An individual railway vehicle.
French: voiture.

Côte
In the seigneurial system used in New France (Quebec), a côte was a row of farm lots that were leased by the seigneur to the tenant farmers. This name was used on the Island of Montreal, no doubt because of the mountain (côte literally means "hillside"); elsewhere in Quebec they were called rangs or concessions. The word survives in a number of place names such as Côte-Vertu and Côte-Sainte-Catherine.

Clerestory
An upper row of windows just below the eaves of a roof.
French: claire-voie.

Connecting track
A portion of track not open to passenger travel, used to join two tracks to permit trains to change lines.
French: voie de raccordement.

Cut-and-cover
A technique used to construct underground buildings such as metro stations, in which the building is constructed in an open pit which is then covered over.
French: construction en tranchée, construction à ciel ouvert.

Entrance
An access to a metro station from outside the station. It can include an entrance building, an entrance integrated into a larger building, or a tunnel from the underground city.
French: sortie, entrée, accès, bouche de métro.

Entrance building
A small building containing an entrance to a metro station.
French: édicule.

Fare-paid zone
The area of a station beyond the turnstiles, where only those who have paid their fare are allowed.

Grade (at)
Of a railway or other road, being laid directly on the ground, rather than in a tunnel or overhead.
French: au niveau du sol.

Great volume
The large, multistory space above the mezzanine and/or platforms of a metro station built using the cut-and-cover method.
French: grand volume.

Metro
1) An urban, electric, high-frequency mass-transit train system with its own independent right-of-way.
2) (esp. with a name) A metro station; metro McGill; a block away from the metro.
3) A metro train; missed the last metro.
French: métro, from chemin de fer métropolitain ("metropolitan railway").

Metrophile
A lover of metros; any metro devotee, fanatic, geek, scholar, know-it-all, connoisseur, or guru.
French: métrophile.

Mezzanine
The level of a station between the entrances and the platforms, often including the ticket hall.
French: mezzanine.

Mined station
A station built by tunnelling in the rock, rather than through open-pit construction.
French: station creusée dans le roc.

Motor car
A train car equipped with a motor.
French: motrice.

Pavilion
Syn. for entrance building.
French: édicule.

Platforms
The areas adjacent to the tracks where passengers wait for their trains.
French: quais.

Ticket hall
The area including the turnstiles and ticket booth, where passengers pay their fares.
French: salle de contrôle.

Trailer
A train car that is not equipped with a motor.
French: remorque.

Transept
A transverse tunnel or gallery joining the two sides of a mined station, to allow the bridge to overlook both platforms. French: transept.

Underground city
The system of tunnels connecting major buildings and metro stations in downtown Montreal. It is made up of three sections:
  • around metro Atwater, linking two shopping malls and a college;
  • around metro Berri-UQAM, connecting the station to the UQAM campus buildings, a shopping mall, and Montreal's bus terminal;
  • and the main section, consisting of the links between Place-des-Arts and Place-d'Armes; Place d'Armes, Square-Victoria, Bonaventure, and Lucien-L'Allier; and Bonaventure to McGill and Peel. It passes through many office buildings and shopping malls (including Place Ville-Marie, Complexe Desjardins, and 1000 de la Gauchetière), two commuter train stations, Place des Arts, the Palais des Congrès, and the Bell Centre.
    French: ville souterrain.

    Vault
    The curved ceiling of a tunnel or underground building.
    French: voûte.

    SCHEMATICS

    Schematic of a station built in tunnel MINED STATION

    1. Platform
    2. Rails
    3. Transept
    4. Bridge
    5. Vault
    6. Tunnel
    7. Mezzanine
    8. Ticket hall
    9. Turnstiles
    10. Ticket booth
    11. ENtrance building
    12. Bulkhead


    Schematic STATION BUILT IN OPEN CUT

    1. Tunnel
    2. Great volume
    3. Platform
    4. Rails
    5. Mezzanine
    6. Ticket hall
    7. Concourse
    8. Turnstiles
    9. Ticket booth
    10. Underground city tunnel
    11. Open entrance
    12. Bulkhead

    STATION PLATFORM TYPES
    Types of platform configurations
    Side platforms Island platform Stacked platforms "Spanish solution" or
    "Barcelona solution"
    ACRONYMS

    STM: Société de transport de Montréal, formerly Société de transport de la Communauté urbaine de Montréal (STCUM).
    Also MTC (Montreal Transit Corporation), formerly MUCTC (Montreal Urban Community Transit Corporation.)

    AMT: Agence métropolitaine de transport (Metropolitan Transit Agency).

    MTQ: Ministère des Transports du Québec (Quebec Transport Ministry).

    STL: Société de transport de la ville de Laval (Laval Transit Corporation).

    RTL: Réseau de transport de Longueuil (Longueuil Transit Network). Formerly Société de transport de la rive-sud de Montréal (Transit Corporation of the South Shore of Montreal, STRSM).