 Then a year later, the Comptoir Financier Franco-Canadien and the Montreal Tunnel Company proposed tunnels under the city centre and the Saint-Lawrence River to link the emerging South Shore neighbourhoods but faced the opposition of railway companies.The Montreal Tramways Company (MTC) was the first to receive the approval of the provincial government in 1913 and four years to start construction.The reluctance of elected city officials to advance funds foiled this first attempt.