MONTREAL — The first segment of the much-delayed Réseau express métropolitain light rail system will open this summer, says the head of operations for the company building the 42-mile, 26-station system.
The Montreal Gazette reports Denis Andlauer, vice-president of operations for CDPQ Infra, promised there will not be another delay in opening during a media tour of the project on Friday. While the first segment of the REM is nearly complete, Andlauer said it is too early to set an opening date because testing has not been completed.
The C$6.9 billion project was announced in 2016 and was originally slated to open its first segment in 2020. The REM has said the delays are because of COVID-19 work stoppages, supply-chain issues, a labor shortage, and problems with the Mount Royal tunnel, the 3.3-mile tunnel used for commuter rail service beginning in 1918. It was closed in 2020 for conversion to light-rail use [see “Pandemic, war among reasons for delay …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 22, 2022].
Current plans are to begin operations with a five-section segment connecting downtown Montreal and Broussard in the city’s South Shore region via the Champlain Bridge, a 2.1-mile crossing of the St. Lawrence River. Travel time will be about 18 minutes, with 14 four-car trainsets in operation during peak periods. The REM estimates about 12,000 riders per hour will use the system during peak periods.
The REM project was designed and funded by the Caisse de dépôt et placement, Quebec’s pension fund manager, with portions replacing an existing Exo commuter-rail line to Deux-Montagnes. That portion, and the segment to Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, are not expected to begin operation until late 2024; the last segment, serving Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Dorval, isn’t expected to open until 2027.
The project which dismantled our only electrified heavy rail passenger line, that was several decades short of reaching its end-of-life, and did not warrant such technology change.
In the process, it also removed the only logical access to Central Station that does not involve using CN trackage, thus putting downtown Montreal out-of-reach of any sensible HFR/HSR plan.
CDPQ Infra can rot in hell for their greed and corruption.