Improvements to the Vaudreuil-Hudson commuter train line: $677 million.

A reserved bus lane for Pie IX: $312 million.

Studies into the extension of thebluelineeastfromSt. Michel: $91 million.

Those are among the figures -some new, some much higher than last year’s -in the Agence metropolitaine de transport’s three-year capital works plan, made public yesterday.

The 178-page plan is a wish list published annually by the AMT, the provincial agency that operates Montreal commuter trains and coordinates regional transit.

In total, the AMT says it would require just under $4.8 billion to fund all of its proposals to improve train, metro and regional bus service over the next three years. That total is 48-per-cent more than the $3.3 billion it said was needed in last year’s plan.

Of the $4.8 billion on this year’s list, only 27 per cent has so far been approved by the provincial government.

Highlights include:

-¦$677 million for improvements, including new tracks, which would allow the AMT to avoid conflicts with freight trains on the Vaudreuil-Hudson line. That would allow the AMT to more than triple the number of trains per day on the line, which serves the West Island. Of that amount, $77 million is now being spent on improving the line’s infrastructure. Quebec has not agreed to fund the rest.

The $677 million includes $55 million needed to recon-figure Montreal West station, where car traffic builds up at two level crossings (Westminster and Elmhurst Aves.) during rush hours. To relieve traffic and set the stage for more trains, the plan says the AMT may move Montreal West station east and build a car overpass at West Broadway St. That would allow cars to bypass the crossings.

The $677 figure also includes $6.7 million the AMT says is needed to improve the Lucien L’Allier station, the line’s downtown terminal. Used by 11,000 commuters daily, Lucien L’Allier’s concrete platforms are crumbling and its tracks are open-air. The $6.7 million would cover fixing platforms and adding a roof.

-¦ $312 million will be required for a permanent reserved bus lane on Pie IX linking Laval and Montreal. In last year’s plan, only $161 million was listed for the lane. The AMT said last year’s figure did not include the Laval portion of the lane.

-¦$91 million is needed to conduct studies and do preliminary engineering work on the extension of the metro blue line, which currently ends at St. Michel Blvd.

-¦ A new train line connecting Repentigny and Mascouche to downtown Montreal will cost $478 million, up from last year’s estimate of $390 million. Work has begun and the line is to open in 2012.

An AMT spokesperson said the cost increase is due to the addition of a provision for “unforeseen expenses.”

-¦$18 million could be spent adding shelters to protect passengers from the elements at stations across the network.

-¦$10 million would be required to improve rail infrastructure to the point where the AMT could have six trains per day serving Hudson, up from the current two. The town of Hudson has requested the service boost.

-¦The AMT would like to spend $416,000 on a feasibility study and pilot project with a view toward providing wireless Internet access on trains.

ariga@montrealgazette.com