Inside the Expo-Express

Each Expo Express train could shuttle up to 1000 Expo 67 visitors at a time.

Check out these ultra-rare shots of the Expo Express at Expo 67, North America's first fully automated rapid transit system.

To avoid visitor uneasiness, operators from Montreal's transit union were placed at the front of the train to give the illusion that they were conducting the self-sufficient Expo Express. Operators performed mundane tasks, such as opening and closing the doors of the train, to reduce boredom.

According to Wikipedia, there was a minor incident involving an Expo Express operator during Expo 67... at the La Ronde station:

"The conductor had pressed the button to close the doors and proceed, but his train had already sensed an oncoming express from Île-Notre-Dame and automatically delayed the go command to let it roll in. In the meantime, the driver realized he had forgotten his lunch. However, he could not exit though the passenger doors because his train was in a "wait" state and would not allow the doors to open. Instead, he crawled through the small cab window. By the time he had fetched his lunch, however, the oncoming train had pulled in and his train had taken off on its own. It crossed the bridge over the Le Moyne Channel, proceeded along the seaway, and came to a smooth stop at Île-Notre-Dame station where an Expo official was waiting. This person crawled back through the cab window and pressed the button to open the doors and let the passengers disembark."

The interior of Expo Express, looking towards the front.

A front view of the train at Place d'Accueil terminal.

The system's control console seemed straight out of Star Trek... Beam me up!

images: wikipedia.org

The Expo-Express

With a forecast of 30 million visits (which was to become a reality of over 50 million visits), Expo 67 needed efficient on-site transportation.

While the Minirail gave visitors a slower, panoramic view of Expo, the Expo-Express quickly moved large crowds to the different exhibition areas. There were 4 Expo-Express stations: Cité du Havre, Île Sainte-Hélène, Île Notre-Dame, and La Ronde.

Unlike the Metro which ran entirely underground using rubber-tire technology, the Expo-Express operated above ground and on steel wheels. The train's route was 5.7 kilometres long, and waiting time was 5 minutes on average. There were 48 cars in total, 8 sets of 6 cars each. Each train had a capacity of 1000 passengers.

The Expo-Express was the first fully automated transit system in North America. To ease the fears of certain passengers that would not want to embark on a driverless train, personnel was hired and outfitted in nice uniforms, to sit in the front cabin and do nothing at all...!

images: (1) alamedainfo.com
(2) emdx.org
(3-4) library and archives Canada