Latest news with #Réseauexpressmétropolitain
Montreal Gazette
24-04-2025
- Montreal Gazette
REM extends service hours after fire disrupts Longueuil bus network
News The Réseau express métropolitain (REM) will extend its Thursday evening service after a fire in a Longueuil bus garage forced the suspension of overnight shuttle operations. The last REM train will depart from Brossard at 12:50 a.m., with the final departure from Central Station scheduled for 1:10 a.m., the network announced Thursday afternoon on X. The adjustment comes after a fire broke out in the Réseau de transport de Longueuil (RTL) garage earlier in the day, halting the usual bus service that supplements REM operations during off-hours. In a Facebook post at 11:44 a.m., RTL said service disruptions would begin at 2:30 p.m. and continue until further notice. 'All our teams are mobilized to minimize the impact on our customers,' the agency said. By 1 p.m., RTL said the fire had been brought under control and no injuries had been reported. Emergency crews remained on site to secure the area. 'Thank you all for your messages and understanding during this exceptional situation,' RTL wrote. Passengers are encouraged to check REM and RTL platforms for real-time updates.
CBC
13-02-2025
- Business
- CBC
North and west REM branches to begin carrying passengers in October
The head of CDPQ Infra, the company overseeing the construction of the Réseau express métropolitain, better known as the REM, says the north and west branches of the project will be up and running by October 2025. Jean-Marc Arbaud said in an interview with Radio-Canada that trains will begin running between Deux-Montagnes, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue and downtown Montreal in March or April for testing. Later, in the summer, that testing will see the whole network shut down for six weeks, a CDPQ Infra spokesperson said on Thursday. Once that's complete, trains should begin carrying passengers along the entire REM route — except for the link to the airport — in October. Arbaud said the airport link is on track for the end of 2027. He said that the airport station is out of the control of CDPQ Infra because Aéroports de Montréal, the corporation in charge of the airport, is building it. Arbaud said the project needs about 100,000 travellers per day to be financially viable. He said that to get there, the REM will have to be reliable and fast. Arbaud said he knows it will be competitive — or faster — than the current time it takes a car to drive from one of the station's endpoints to downtown Montreal. And he said they are working on reliability. So far, snow has caused some problems. Since Dec. 1, the South Shore REM branch has had nine interruptions of 20 minutes or more, including three shutdowns within 24 hours at the beginning of February. "That's the last point we have to sort out if we are to provide a service that passengers have every right to expect," he said. "All our contractors are well aware of this, and we monitor it on a daily basis." The cost of the REM has climbed from $7 billion estimated in 2018 to now $9.4 billion. But Arbaud noted that the cost is actually about half or a third of other major public transit projects in the rest of Canada.
Yahoo
04-02-2025
- Yahoo
2nd REM breakdown in as many days causes headaches for Montreal commuters
A track switch issue disrupted service on Montreal's light-rail network on Tuesday morning, forcing commuters to take shuttle buses during rush hour. This was the second breakdown in two days to cause headaches for Réseau express métropolitain (REM) users. On Monday, a power supply failure led to a service interruption between 4:15 p.m. and 7 p.m., said Francis Labbé, CDPQ Infra spokesperson, in a Tuesday interview on Radio-Canada's Tout un matin. On Tuesday, it was a different problem. A track switch, also known as a turnaround point, malfunctioned at a REM station in Brossard, on Montreal's South Shore. "We had to move the trains manually, which takes much longer," explained Labbé. Service resumed later in the morning after a shut down that lasted several hours, but not without causing delays for many passengers. Commuters had to line up to board the shuttle buses to get to and from the South Shore. Labbé said these recurring issues won't drive users away, and he added the system's reliability has improved significantly over the past year. "Compared to last year, we now have only a third of the breakdowns we experienced back then. So, the systems and infrastructure are maturing," he said. No choice but to ride REM Those commuters relying on public transit to cross the St. Lawrence River actually have no choice but to ride the REM when it is operational. That's because the express bus, which used to use bus lanes on the Champlain Bridge, no longer runs. There is a non-competition clause that prevents buses from other transit networks from crossing the Champlain Bridge, something that has frustrated many users since the REM began operations in 2023. Teams will work to determine the cause of Monday's electrical issue, Labbé said. "It's a case-by-case situation. Various hypotheses are being considered, and each incident must be studied to better understand what is happening," he said. The solutions found will be integrated into the maintenance plan, he said. Two delays this week are some of many speed bumps the new transit service has hit since launching. Even the opening of the $6.9-billion light-rail network was delayed. Switches have malfunctioned before Malfunctioning railway switches have been a problem since the first official rush-hour commute on Aug. 21, 2023, with service stopping twice on a Monday morning. By the fall, more complaints emerged as passengers faced delays. For example, on Halloween in 2023, Chambly, Que., resident Taissia Philipovich was among the passengers trapped for an hour in a stalled wagon. "We were so many people in the train, with winter jackets. It was stuffy. The air wasn't there," she said shortly after the incident. The REM has been making efforts to communicate better and faster with passengers before and during outages, even sending out text alerts when it happens to those who sign up for the phone service. More recently, passengers have been relying on bus shuttles during planned service stoppages. This is due to network testing as the REM prepares to open more of its service throughout Montreal. For all of January there were late openings and early closures on the weekend. The entire network will be shut down on weekends through most weekends of February through June, the REM says on its will be early network closures during the week throughout the spring and into the summer. In July and August, the service will be completely shut down most of the time. More information can be found on the REM's website.
CBC
04-02-2025
- CBC
Track switch issue disrupts morning REM service, forcing rush-hour commuters onto buses
A track switch issue disrupted service on Montreal's light-rail network on Tuesday morning, forcing commuters to take shuttle buses during rush hour. This was the second breakdown in two days to cause headaches for Réseau express métropolitain (REM) users. On Monday, a power supply failure led to a service interruption between 4:15 p.m. and 7 p.m., said Francis Labbé, CDPQ Infra spokesperson, in a Tuesday interview on Radio-Canada's Tout un matin. On Tuesday, it was a different problem. A track switch, also known as a turnaround point, malfunctioned at a REM station in Brossard, on Montreal's South Shore. "We had to move the trains manually, which takes much longer," explained Labbé. Service resumed later in the morning after a shut down that lasted several hours, but not without causing delays for many passengers. Commuters had to line up to board the shuttle buses to get to and from the South Shore. Labbé said these recurring issues won't drive users away, and he added the system's reliability has improved significantly over the past year. "Compared to last year, we now have only a third of the breakdowns we experienced back then. So, the systems and infrastructure are maturing," he said. No choice but to ride REM Those commuters relying on public transit to cross the St. Lawrence River actually have no choice but to ride the REM when it is operational. That's because the express bus, which used to use bus lanes on the Champlain Bridge, no longer runs. There is a non-competition clause that prevents buses from other transit networks from crossing the Champlain Bridge, something that has frustrated many users since the REM began operations in 2023. Teams will work to determine the cause of Monday's electrical issue, Labbé said. "It's a case-by-case situation. Various hypotheses are being considered, and each incident must be studied to better understand what is happening," he said. The solutions found will be integrated into the maintenance plan, he said. Two delays this week are some of many speed bumps the new transit service has hit since launching. Even the opening of the $6.9-billion light-rail network was delayed. Switches have malfunctioned before Malfunctioning railway switches have been a problem since the first official rush-hour commute on Aug. 21, 2023, with service stopping twice on a Monday morning. By the fall, more complaints emerged as passengers faced delays. For example, on Halloween in 2023, Chambly, Que., resident Taissia Philipovich was among the passengers trapped for an hour in a stalled wagon. "We were so many people in the train, with winter jackets. It was stuffy. The air wasn't there," she said shortly after the incident. The REM has been making efforts to communicate better and faster with passengers before and during outages, even sending out text alerts when it happens to those who sign up for the phone service. More recently, passengers have been relying on bus shuttles during planned service stoppages. This is due to network testing as the REM prepares to open more of its service throughout Montreal. For all of January there were late openings and early closures on the weekend. The entire network will be shut down on weekends through most weekends of February through June, the REM says on its will be early network closures during the week throughout the spring and into the summer.
