MONTREAL — Montreal residents turned out in huge numbers to sample the first segment of the city’s new light rail system on Saturday, with officials forced to turn away some riders.
An estimated 60,000 people rode the Réseau express métropolitain on Saturday, the first of two days of free rides before regular, paying operations begin today (July 31), the Montreal Gazette reports. That far exceeds the capacity of a system designed to handle 30,000 riders in 20 hours of daily operation.
“It’s an amazing success,” spokesman Jean-Vincent Lacroix told the Gazette, “but we can’t get more people on board right now. We’re at capacity.”
Lines started forming Saturday an hour before open houses began at the five stations on the 16.6-kilometer (10.3-mile) segment that launched with ceremonies on Friday [see “Montreal’s REM light rail makes debut,” Trains News Wire, July 29, 2023]. By noon, those in line at Central Station were being asked to wait until Sunday to take their first ride.
In all, more than 120,000 people rode the trains during the two-day open house, REM officials said in a Facebook post.
Regular service was slated to begin at 5:30 a.m. EDT today. Single rides for the full route will take about 18 minutes; tickets start at C$3.75, with CityNews reporting there will be a two-week tolerance period for those unable to purchase tickets in time. More information is available at the REM website.
— Updated at 7:30 a.m. CDT with total weekend ridership.
The large turnout this weekend for REM’s opening reminds of the opening weekend for the Montreal Metro back in the fall of 1966. So many people showed up that they basically had to shut the system down.
QUESTION for NEIL LANG– Does the new LRT system interface with the older Montreal Metro and are there free transfers?
REM is a long overdue but much needed light metro rapid transit system for dear Montreal.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
It looks like there’s already a passionate mutual love between the REM and the Montrealers. Let’s hope it lasts like this!
Dr. Güntürk Üstün