Plans to electrify Montreal's commuter rail lines have hit a big snag. La Presse reports that the owners of the tracks - CN and CP - simply aren't interested. The AMT says it hit a brick wall when it tried to talk to the railways about the 1.5 billion dollar project.

Transit officials say the railways are reluctant because of the impact electrification would have on their work and maintenance routines.

As it stands, just one of the region's five commuter lines is electrified - the Two Mountains line. Converting the rest would take about ten years and would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 95-thousand tonnes.

Photo credit: tomwsulcer