It has been a while since my last blog post, partly because finding internet cafes in Montreal and Quebec City has been a little bit more of a challenge than finding internet in the USA was. It has been good to experience a part of the world a bit different to what I’m used to – particularly in terms of the language. Although my French is sadly pretty much non-existent.

In terms of transport observations, the Montreal Metro is particularly worthy of mention. Out of Montreal, Boston and New York’s metro/subway systems, it definitely feels as though Montreal is the city most concerned about its system – in terms of making the stations pleasant, keeping riders well aware of when the next train is and so on. Now that’s not at all to say that Boston and New York have poor systems: in Boston a train seemed to turn up immediately just about every time we arrived at a platform, indicating pretty damn high frequencies (or the most uncanny good luck ever). In New York, the four-tracking and the sheer extensiveness of the system do more than make up for the fact that it feels somewhat run-down, a bit neglected and a tad claustrophobic. But there is something about Montreal’s system that makes it feel well cared for, valued and up with the times.

The other transport experience that I’ve had in French Canada is catching the inter-city VIA Rail train between Montreal and Quebec City, and now back again. In fact, I am now taking advantage of their free WiFi to write this post on my phone (hence the lack of links). As we speed along, passing vehicles on the adjacent highway, there’s a great quality to the journey that just can’t be replicated on the inter-city bus. This was hammered home to us on arrival in Montreal, as we got stuck in a traffic jam for over an hour in our Greyhound bus from Boston. I can’t help but feel New Zealand is missing out on opportunities to give its visitors a better experience by not having further inter-city rail services, like links between Auckland and the Bay of Islands, Auckland to Rotorua and many others I am sure. Of course our system would need giant upgrades to ever offer the speed and quality of service I am currently enjoying, but the gains could be significant.

From here we have two more nights in Montreal before flying to Washington DC, and after that heading back to New York and eventually our flight home. I have quite a few blog posts buried away in my head to do in the not too distant future!

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3 comments

  1. Bibliotheque Nationale in Montreal near Berri UQAM metro has publicly available computers (watch keyboard) that are well used by backpackers. And its free for something like 20 mins. Very helpful staff.

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