Berri–UQAM station

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Berri–UQAM station" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Berri-UQAM
Green line platforms seen from Orange line level
General information
Location	1500 Rue Berri, Montréal, QC H2L 2C4 Canada
Coordinates	45°30′55″N 73°33′40″W / 45.51528°N 73.56111°W / 45.51528; -73.56111
Operated by	Société de transport de Montréal
Line(s)	Green Line Orange Line Yellow Line
Platforms	6 side platforms
Tracks	6
Connections	Société de transport de Montréal   Gare d'autocars de Montréal
Construction
Depth	16.8 metres (55 feet 1 inch) (Green) 10.7 metres (35 feet 1 inch) (Orange) 27.4 metres (89 feet 11 inches) (Yellow), 2nd deepest
Platform levels	6
Accessible	Yes (Orange and Green lines only; planned for the Yellow Line)
Architect	Longpré et Marchand Gaétan Pelletier (kiosk built in 1999)
Other information
Fare zone	ARTM: A[1]
History
Opened	14 October 1966
Previous names	Berri-de-Montigny (1966–1988)
Passengers
2023[2][3]	8,682,816  19.83%
Rank	1 of 68
Services
Preceding station Montreal Metro Following station Saint-Laurent toward Angrignon Green Line Beaudry toward Honoré-Beaugrand Champ-de-Mars toward Côte-Vertu Orange Line Sherbrooke toward Montmorency Terminus Yellow Line Jean-Drapeau toward Longueuil
Location

Berri–UQAM station is a Montreal Metro station in the borough of Ville-Marie, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.^[4] It is operated by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) and is the system's central station. This station is served by the Green, Orange, and Yellow lines. It is located in the Quartier Latin.

Berri–UQAM is the 2nd deepest station in the network, and also the busiest station in the network, transfers not included. If transfers were included, the 13 million passengers number would rise to about 35–40 million a year.

The station opened as Berri–De Montigny with the opening of the Metro on October 14, 1966, serving the Green and Orange lines.^[5]

The station was the site of the inauguration of the Metro by Mayor of Montreal Jean Drapeau, president of the Commission de transport de Montréal Lucien L'Allier and Archbishop of Montreal Paul-Émile Léger.^[6] A plaque commemorating the inauguration is located in the mezzanine. The Yellow Line entered service on April 28, 1967, serving the Expo 67 site on Île Sainte-Hélène.^[7]

In 1988, the station was renamed Berri–UQAM after the Université du Québec à Montréal located adjacent to the station.^[5] On September 2, 2001, a canister of tear gas was set off inside the station, forcing the evacuation of the 300 passengers inside.^[8]

In 2007, STM began planning to refurbish the station, after learning that the waterproofing of the station had been compromised.^[9] Construction began in 2010, with renovation of electrical, mechanical and structural components including waterproofing the underground roof and upgrades to fire protection and ventilation systems.^[10] The work also included improvements to lighting, refurbishment of staircases, new architectural facings including wall tiling and ceilings, rearranging of corridors to the Orange and Green line platforms, as well as refurbishment and renovation of the entrance buildings.^[10]

The renovation and upgrade works were planned for completion in 2025,^[11] however media reported in April 2024 that the work was significantly behind schedule.^[12][13] Estimated completion of the waterproofing works is now "around 2027 to 2029".^[12]

Alongside the renovation work, the station has been made partially accessible through the addition of elevators. In September 2009, two elevators connect the Orange Line platforms to the mezzanine,^[14] with an elevator connecting the street to the mezzanine opening in 2010. In November 2020, work to make the Green Line platforms accessible was completed, with the opening of two additional elevators.^[15] As of 2023^[update], construction to provide elevators to the Yellow Line is underway, despite the technical challenge of excavating and building new elevators 28 metres (92 ft) below street level.^[10]

Upon completion of the works, the station will have seven elevators allowing step-free access to all three lines, as well as to the street.^[10]

Designed by Longpré and Marchand, the station serves three lines: the Green, Orange, and Yellow Lines.

The main part of the station is a cruciform cut and cover volume built underneath the intersection of rue Berri and boulevard de Maisonneuve; the volume is so large that the station's design had to include massive pillars to support the street.

This central volume contains three levels. The upper level contains the rectangular mezzanine at its centre, with fare gates on all four sides; the arms extend out to the station's entrances, with two more entrances at the crossing, and are also lined with shops and services. Staircases lead from the mezzanine to the landings on either side of the Orange Line. These landings provide views of the great volumes over the Green Line platforms below.

From the Green Line level, escalators and hallways connect the rest of the station to the Yellow Line terminus, built in a tunnel a block away under rue Saint-Denis, around 28 metres (92 ft) below the surface. Limited space in the Yellow Line tail tracks cause trains to reverse both in the tail tracks and in the foretracks when they leave the station.

All three lines have side platforms. The station was the first to be equipped with the MétroVision information screens, which displays news, commercials, and the time until the next train arrives.

The mezzanine can be accessed from the street via elevators in the Grande Bibliothèque du Québec and UQAM's Pavillon Judith-Jasmin; but those buildings are closed during some of the Metro's operating hours. However, there is an elevator in the Saint-Denis exit, which opened in June 2010 and is open throughout the operating hours.

The station has 5 entrances:^[4]

• Entrance A: 1500 Rue Berri
• Entrance B: 505 Rue Sainte-Catherine Est
• Entrance C: 850 Boulevard de Maisonneuve Est
• Entrance D: 1470 Rue Saint-Denis
• 1621 Rue Berri (no letter assigned)

G	Street Level	Entrance/exit (Elevators at boul. de Maisonneuve, at intersection of rue Berri and rue Sainte-Catherine, and at rue Saint-Denis)
B1	Upper mezzanine	Faregates, ticket machines, station agent, Elevators to Green and Orange Line platforms (Note: Yellow Line platforms are not accessible)
B2 Orange Line platforms	Side platform, doors will open on the right
	Eastbound	← Orange Line to Montmorency (Sherbrooke)
	Westbound	→ Orange Line to Côte-Vertu (Champ-de-Mars) →
	Side platform, doors will open on the right
B3 Green Line platforms	Side platform, doors will open on the right
	Westbound	← Green Line to Angrignon (Saint-Laurent)
	Eastbound	→ Green Line to Honoré-Beaugrand (Beaudry) →
	Side platform, doors will open on the right
B4	Transfer mezzanine	Interchange corridor between Green Line and Yellow Line platforms
B5 Yellow Line platforms	Side platform, doors will open on the right
	Terminus	← Yellow Line terminus platform
	Eastbound	→ Yellow Line to Longueuil (Jean-Drapeau) →
	Side platform, doors will open on the right

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The station has a total of four independent exits: three integrated into buildings (the Berri, Saint-Denis, and Place Dupuis exits) and one free-standing kiosk (the Sainte-Catherine exit). The station also contains several underground city connections, listed below.

The 1967 station was designed by Longpré et Marchand, with a 1999 free-standing kiosk entrance designed by architect Gaétan Pelletier.

The work of five artists is exhibited in this station. The largest work is a stained-glass mural by Pierre Gaboriau and Pierre Osterrath entitled Hommage aux fondateurs de la ville de Montréal (homage to the founders of the city of Montreal). A gift of the Union régionale de Montréal des caisses populaires Desjardins and installed in 1969, it depicts Jérôme le Royer de la Dauversière, Jeanne Mance, and Paul Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve. It is located over the eastern portal of the Green Line tunnel.

Three paintings by Robert LaPalme [fr] are located over the main staircase leading to the Yellow Line terminus. Originally located at the entrance to Expo 67, they represent three themes of the Expo: science, recreation, and culture.

A plaque by LaPalme and Georges Lauda, commemorating the inauguration of the Metro, is located at the centre of the mezzanine. It is enclosed in a black circular bench, a popular meeting site, referred to as la rondelle (the hockey puck) or la pilule (the pill) or "le banc des fous" (the crazy bench).

In the newer Sainte-Catherine entrance pavilion, a statue of Mother Émilie Gamelin by Raoul Hunter, commemorating Place Émilie-Gamelin (also called Berri Square) in which the entrance is located. The statue is owned by the City of Montreal.

The most recent art piece put in place inside the station is the Wall of Peace on the concourse level of the Yellow Line. It consists of coloured metal plates bearing the word "peace" in multiple languages.

Berri–UQAM is named for both Berri Street, so called since 1663, and for the Université du Québec à Montréal. The university has taken to using UQAM as its abbreviation, which it displays as UQÀM (with a grave accent over the A as its logo; the station retains the UQAM form).^{[citation needed]}

Until 1988, the station was named Berri–De Montigny;^[16] rue de Montigny is the former name of boulevard de Maisonneuve in this area. Small stubs of de Montigny street still survive in Downtown Montreal between Saint Laurent Boulevard and Saint Urbain Street and in the Montréal-Est suburb.^{[citation needed]}

The station is served by several STM bus routes. Gare d'autocars de Montréal, Montreal's main intercity bus terminal, is located close to the station.^{[citation needed]}

Société de transport de Montréal
Route
30 St-Denis/St-Hubert
50 Old Port/Old Montreal
361 Saint-Denis
427 Express Saint-Joseph
747 YUL Airport/Downtown

• Université du Québec à Montréal
• Gare d'autocars de Montréal
• Grande Bibliothèque

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Berri-UQAM (Montreal Metro).

• Société de transport de Montréal - official web page of the station
• Berri-UQAM metro station geo location
• Montreal by Metro, metrodemontreal.com - photos, information, and trivia
• 2011 STM System Map
• 2011 Downtown System Map
• Metro Map