It’s over for the La Ronde Minirail

A page of history is turning in Montreal. Another important part of Expo 67, the Minirail, will be dismantled. Following an inspection, it would have been found that the structure was no longer safe.

The Minirail, a small network of trains circling the amusement park, had been in place for 60 years. First intended for visitors to the exhibition, it had not been used in the park since 2019.

The decision to dismantle the Minirail took the Parc Jean Drapeau company and the City of Montreal by surprise. “We would have liked to have been notified in advance of the issues relating to the preservation of the carousel in order to be able to discuss the possibilities of preserving the train”, reacts the office of Mayor Plante.

“The preservation of heritage and that of Expo 67 is at the heart of our administration’s approach and of the master plan for Parc Jean-Drapeau, which gives it an important place. Although the preservation of heritage cannot be done to the detriment of public safety, the City of Montreal expects its partners to take all available means to preserve the heritage entrusted to them.

The heritage preservation organization Héritage Montréal shared its disappointment with the dismantling of the train. Another heritage carousel in La Ronde, the Pitoune, was also dismantled five years ago.