Pepper spray halts metro at rush hour
Twenty-one metro stations were closed at rush hour Monday evening after someone released pepper spray at Berri‑UQAM.
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Mozai 09:57 on 2025-03-11 Permalink
I have a strong feeling to say something, but I only have misanthropic things in mind.
Blork 10:54 on 2025-03-11 Permalink
It seems like a huge weakness in the system if a gas in one station can cause evacuations in 21 stations across three lines.
Joey 11:07 on 2025-03-11 Permalink
Yeah, I don’t get it either – someone released something that might have been pepper spray at Berri-UQAM, so they evacuated every orange line station from Beaubien to Lucien-L’allier on the orange line and between Guy-Concordia and Prefontaine on the green line. I guess the STM was worried that the perpetrator hopped on a train and might have released more pepper spray at another station?
Bert 11:50 on 2025-03-11 Permalink
I think the CTCUM must also consider how they run the split services. There are not crossovers between every station and they do not use single-track operation. So, the tunnel from Lucien L’allier and Bonaventure effectively becomes a terminus. It might also depend on where major ventilation shafts are, but then thinking about it, would they release pepper-sprayed air outside?
Blork 12:05 on 2025-03-11 Permalink
@Joey, I’m just guessing, but I think it’s more a matter of the potential spread of the gas through the tunnels. While a squirt of pepper spray shouldn’t be noxious over that much territory, I’m guessing there is a protocol in place for when an unknown gas is released, in case it’s something more hazardous. As in, there’s a protocol to assume the worst until it can be confirmed it’s not something widely lethal.
Joey 13:55 on 2025-03-11 Permalink
So we’ve got at least three valid hypotheses right off the bat. Shame none of the reporters covering the story weren’t more curious. Not that I think the STM is hiding anything or made a bad call (by all accounts the whole interruption lasted a big 20 minutes), but it would be interesting to have a fuller understanding of the way these decisions are made.
Kate 16:27 on 2025-03-11 Permalink
You’ve only got to read about the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack to understand why the STM may be jumpy about fumes in the metro.
Blork 16:49 on 2025-03-11 Permalink
I was thinking about that, which is why I speculated it’s a protocol until they identify the gas. But just the fact that the gas could theoretically spread so far so fast seems odd. Are they being overcautious, or can it really be like that?
walkerp 18:25 on 2025-03-11 Permalink
I feel like insurance and senior management are significant factors in the development of their pepper spray protocol.