Now every Montrealer can drive a metro train thanks to a simulation dreamed up by a fan of the subway system.
“There’s so much to it. the metro stations, the sounds. it’s a familiar environment, the metro,” William Gamache told Global News.
He created an app that allows users to virtually sit in the driver’s seat and control the trains.
The application that puts you behind the wheel allows users to control the train’s speeds, doors and sounds.Gamache recreated the look of the tunnels and about 23 stations on the orange line — all in 3-d.
Recreating the look of the underground transit system was done by taking a lot of pictures.
For the familiar sounds Gamache held up a microphone to the train’s speakers.
Gamache started working on this project last year.
The app is not sanctioned by the Société de transport de Montréal. And he’s not making money from it.
Gamache created it because he could.
“It’s kind of a toy, like a miniature train. It’s entertainment,” he said.
The 21 year old has had a fascination with mass transit since he was a child.
Now this high tech wiz kid — if you can call him that — is actually unemployed.
As a boy, his dream job was to drive a train. It kind of still is.
“I still want to do it. Driving a metro is my dream,” he said.
The game won’t put him behind the wheel of a metro. But it has caught the attention of STM officials.
Marvin Rotrand was fascinated to learn about Gamache’s creation.
The vice-chair got a first hand look at how it works and hopes this cutting edge technology will bring more positive attention to Montreal’s public transit system.
“It’s a simulation, it could easily be made into something like a game, it could be used for multimedia or it could ultimately be integrated in the training. I think it’s absolutely wonderful,” Rotrand told Global News.
It’s a free app to install.
Just download the file from the Facebook page, Simulateur du métro de Montréal, and follow the instructions.
Before you know it, you’ll be using this new technology to drive off in Montreal’s underground transit systems.