Line delays, service outages and rising costs for Montreal’s light-rail network

Residents of the greater Montreal country hoping to usage the city’s light-rail web (REM) volition person to workout patience, arsenic officials pushed backmost the opening of the Deux-Montagnes and West Island lines again, this clip until autumn 2025.

CDPQ Infra, the subsidiary of Quebec’s nationalist pension money that is gathering the obstruction system, besides announced Thursday regular work interruptions to the Brossard enactment starting successful January 2025.

These disruptions volition mostly beryllium connected weekends astatine first, but work to Montreal’s southbound enactment volition beryllium wholly interrupted for up to six weeks successful summertime 2025.

Officials importune these delays and outages are required to guarantee the network’s safety, though they besides accidental they recognize however this whitethorn beryllium frustrating to nationalist transit users who person been waiting respective years for the REM’s opening.

“Everyone is motivated to marque it happen,” said CDPQ Infra president and CEO Jean-Marc Arbaud. “I tin warrant you that everyone is moving each time for that.”

Arbaud places immoderate of the blasted for the repeated delays connected unpredictable events specified arsenic the COVID-19 pandemic.

Another large disruption to the REM’s operation was the find successful 2020 of century-old dynamite successful the Mount Royal tunnel. The passageway is simply a captious portion of the light-rail system, linking its occidental lines to downtown Montreal.

These challenges person raised the project’s wide fund to $8.3 billion, up $2 cardinal from the archetypal 2018 estimation of $6.3 billion.

It’s imaginable much unforeseen events could propulsion the autumn 2025 deadline backmost adjacent further, Arbaud admits.

“I’m not worried,” helium said. “But it could happen.”

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Arbaud says that helium remains assured CDPQ Infra volition scope its goal, adding each signs are pointing “in the close direction.”

During work interruptions to the southbound shore, shuttle buses volition beryllium offered to commuters.

These buses were not ever reliable during erstwhile disruptions, but CDPQ Infra says it volition beryllium antithetic this time.

“When there’s an outage, it’s ne'er predictable,” said vice-president of operations Denis Andlauer. “Now, (…) everything is planned.”

More than 28,000 radical presently usage the REM each time connected average, according to Andlauer. He says the shuttle work volition beryllium capable to accommodate everyone.

In Montreal’s St-Laurent borough, which volition spot the REM walk done it, Mayor Alan DeSousa is inactive waiting for the bid web to beryllium operational. But helium says helium understands the request for the delays.

“When they enactment it successful service, let’s marque definite it works,” said DeSousa. “Now that’s my anticipation and if they’re capable to bash that, they won’t perceive immoderate complaints from me.”

Once afloat completed, the REM volition besides connection proscription to the Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.

That conception of the network, however, volition lone beryllium successful work starting successful 2027, according to the REM website.

— with files from the Canadian Press