Lionel-Groulx is a Montreal Metro station in the borough of Le Sud-Ouest in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.[4] It is operated by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) and is a transfer station between the Green Line and Orange Line, with cross-platform interchange available. It is located in the Saint-Henri area, along Atwater Avenue on that area's eastern border with Little Burgundy. If transfers between lines are included, the station is one of the busiest on the Metro. It first opened in 1978.

Lionel-Groulx
General information
Location620, Atwater Avenue
Montreal, Quebec H4C 2G6
Canada
Coordinates45°28′58″N 73°34′47″W / 45.48278°N 73.57972°W / 45.48278; -73.57972
Operated bySociété de transport de Montréal
Line(s) Green Line
Orange Line
Platforms2 island platforms (1 on each level)
Tracks4 (2 on each level)
Connections
Construction
Depth12.5 metres (41 feet) (upper platform)
16.5 metres (54 feet) (lower platform), 29th deepest
AccessibleYes
ArchitectYves Roy
Other information
Fare zoneARTM: A[1]
History
Opened3 September 1978 (Green line)
28 April 1980 (Orange Line)
Passengers
2023[2][3]4,610,154 (excluding transfers) Increase 26.31%
Rank13 of 68
Services
Preceding station Montreal Metro Following station
Charlevoix
toward Angrignon
Green Line Atwater
Place-Saint-Henri Orange Line Georges-Vanier

History

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The station opened on September 3, 1978 as part of the extension of the Green Line to Angrignon, but service was 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. The station was the first transfer station after Berri-UQAM opened in the original network.

In 2009, it became the first existing station, after elevators were added, to be retrofitted to be fully wheelchair-accessible.[5] Berri-UQAM station had elevators added at the same time but only between the mezzanine and the Orange Line platforms.[5] (The three stations in Laval, which opened in 2007, already had elevators.) Three elevators connect, respectively, the entrance to the mezzanine, the mezzanine to the upper platform, and the upper platform to the lower platform.

Architecture and art

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The Tree of Life by Joseph Rifesser stands in the Lionel-Groulx Metro Station
 
Arrangement of the platforms at Lionel-Groulx Metro Station

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 orange, yellow and red circular tiles on the platform floor recall the multi-colored maple leaves that typically carpet the city’s sidewalks, parks and surrounding woodlands in autumn.

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.[6] 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 Metro by the United Nations.

The station is equipped with the MétroVision information screens which displays news, commercials, and the time till the next train.

Station layout

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G Street Level Exit / Entrance
B1 Mezzanine Fare control, station agent
B2 Outer loop   Orange Line toward Montmorency via Henri-Bourassa (Georges-Vanier)
Island platform, doors will open on the left
Northbound   Green Line toward Honoré-Beaugrand (Atwater)
B3 Inner loop   Orange Line toward Côte-Vertu (Place-Saint-Henri)
Island platform, doors will open on the right
Southbound   Green Line toward Angrignon (Charlevoix)

Origin of the name

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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 Revue 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 station, due to anti-Semitic statements and positions made and maintained by Lionel Groulx.[7]

Likewise, there has been a recent movement to rename the station in honour of Oscar Peterson. The movement was originally started as a virtual petition, but has recently been picked up by the media. The issue was politicized and fraught in controversy as global monuments and statues celebrating controversial historical icons were called in to question.[8]

Connecting bus routes

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The 77 MUHC shuttle is abolished on August 23, 2021, as Vendôme station became accessible and provides accessible path to the MUHC Glen Site.[9]

Société de transport de Montréal
Route
  101 Saint-Patrick
  108 Bannantyne
  190 Norman
  211 Bord-du-Lac
  350 Verdun/LaSalle
  371 Décarie (Southbound)
  405 Express Bord-du-Lac
  411 Express Lionel-Groulx
  425 Express Anse-à-l’Orme
  485 Express Antoine-Faucon
  491 Express Lachine
  496 Express Victoria
  747   YUL Airport/Downtown

Nearby points of interest

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  • 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)

Film and television appearances

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References

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  1. ^ "Fare Zones". Metropolitan Regional Transportation Authority. 1 July 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  2. ^ Société de transport de Montréal (2024-02-16). Entrants de toutes les stations de métro en 2023 (Report) – via Access to Information Act request, reference no. 0308.2024.021.
  3. ^ Société de transport de Montréal (2023-05-25). Entrants de toutes les stations de métro en 2022 (Report) – via Access to Information Act request, reference no. 0308.2023.134.
  4. ^ Lionel-Groulx Station
  5. ^ a b "Métro Montréal - Les ascenseurs des stations Lionel-Groulx et Berri-UQAM maintenant en service". Journal Metro. 14 September 2009. Archived from the original on 2011-07-27. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
  6. ^ Heffez, Alanah (2008-12-30). "Metro Memories". Spacing Montreal. Retrieved 2009-01-10.
  7. ^ "Montreal unlikely to rename Lionel-Groulx metro station after jazz great Oscar Peterson". Global News. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  8. ^ "Petition growing to rename Lionel-Groulx métro after Oscar Peterson". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  9. ^ "RECOMMANDATION AU CONSEIL D'ADMINISTRATION" (PDF). Société de transport de Montréal (in French). 2021-06-02. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  10. ^ Dutta, Nishitha (2020-12-24). "Where Was Catch Me If You Can Filmed?". The Cinemaholic. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
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