Réseau express métropolitain

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Réseau express métropolitain

Overview
Owner	CDPQ Infra
Locale	Greater Montreal
Transit type	Light metro
Number of lines	1 (3 branches)
Number of stations	26
Daily ridership	190,000 (projected)[1]
Website	rem.info/en
Operation
Operation will start	2022 (2022) (first section between Brossard and Central Station)[2]
Operator(s)	SNC-Lavalin–Alstom
Number of vehicles	212 Alstom Metropolis[3]
Technical
System length	67 km (42 mi)[4]
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	1500 V DC overhead
Top speed	100 km/h (62 mph)
showSystem map Legend Deux-Montagnes Grand-Moulin Rivière des Mille-Îles Sainte-Dorothée Rivière des Prairies Île-Bigras Rivière des Prairies Pierrefonds-Roxboro Sunnybrooke Anse-à-l'Orme Kirkland Fairview–Pointe-Claire Des Sources YUL–Montréal– Trudeau Airport Marie-Curie Bois-Franc Du Ruisseau Montpellier Côte-de-Liesse Ville-de-Mont-Royal Canora Mount Royal Tunnel Édouard-Montpetit McGill Central Station Griffintown–Bernard-Landry Lachine Canal St. Lawrence River Île-des-Soeurs Champlain Bridge over St. Lawrence River Panama Du Quartier Brossard This diagram: view talk

The Réseau express métropolitain (REM; English: Metropolitan Express Network; previously known as Réseau électrique métropolitain) is a light metro rapid transit system under construction in the Greater Montreal area around Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The system will link several suburbs with Downtown Montreal via Central Station. It involves the conversion of the existing Deux-Montagnes commuter rail line to light metro standards. A station at Montréal–Trudeau International Airport will serve as the terminus of one of the three branches.

The 67-kilometre (42 mi) light metro rail system is projected to cost $6.9 billion.^[5] It will be independent of—but connected to—the existing Montreal Metro, operated by the STM. Trains on the network will be fully automated and driverless, and it will become the fifth-longest automated transportation system in the world, after the Singapore Mass Rapid Transit, Kuala Lumpur Rapid KL, Vancouver SkyTrain, and Dubai Metro.^[6]

History[]

On 13 January 2015, Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard and Michael Sabia, CEO of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), agreed to a partnership in which the Crown corporation could assume financing for major transportation projects in the province, with $7.4 billion planned to be spent on infrastructure from 2014 to 2024.^[7] Two of these projects were the South Shore Line and the Train de l'Ouest toward the West Island, which eventually merged to become the core of the REM project.^[8]

On 22 April 2016, Sabia and Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre unveiled the project, then known as the Réseau électrique métropolitain, to the media. A completion date for a first portion of the system was put forward for December 2020. On 22 June 2016, CDPQ Infra published two requests for qualification: one for the engineering, procurement and construction contract and the other for the rolling stock, systems, operation, and maintenance. The estimated value of the two contracts are $4 billion and $1.5 billion respectively.^[9]

On 25 November 2016, CDPQ Infra announced the addition of three new stations to the project. The Central Station, McGill, and Édouard-Montpetit stations will significantly improve downtown Montreal service, and further integrate the REM into the Metro system through fluid and efficient connections to the Orange, Green and Blue lines. The announcement will adjust the price tag of the entire project to a total $5.9 billion.^[10][11]

On 15 June 2017, the Government of Canada pledged $1.28 billion to finance the project,^[12] thus completely securing the financial portion of the REM. On the same day, Sabia announced that construction on the project was to start at the end of 2017. On 1 December 2017, the CDPQ extended the tender process on the project to the end of January 2018, citing a need for additional discussions with the bidders.^[13]

A REM Alstom Metropolis train unveiled at a press conference in Montreal

Procurement[]

On 28 June 2016, CDPQ Infra launched two public tenders in parallel: one for "Engineering, Procurement and Construction" (EPC, or "Ingénierie, Approvisionnement et Construction des infrastructures" (IAC) in French), and a second, for "Rolling Stock, Systems and Operation and Maintenance Services" (RSSOM, or "Fourniture du Matériel Roulant, de Systèmes de conduite automatique et de Services d'Exploitation et de Maintenance" (MRSEM) in French).^[14][15] Following a prequalification phase, the Caisse's subsidiary announced, on 10 November 2016, the qualified candidates that would be allowed to submit a bid:

• For the EPC contract, the competitors were the Groupe NouvLR consortium composed of SNC-Lavalin Grands Projets, Dragados, Aecon, Pomerleau, EPC and AECOM and the Kiewit-Eurovia consortium formed by Kiewit Corporation, Eurovia, WSP Global and Parsons Corporation;^[16][17]
• For the RSSOM contract, three companies and consortia were in competition: Bombardier Transportation alone, Alliance Montréal Mobilité (composed of Parsons Corporation, Hyundai Rotem, RATP Dev and Thales Canada) and the Groupe des Partenaires pour la Mobilité des Montréalais (associating Alstom and SNC-Lavalin O&M).^[16] Ansaldo STS-Hitachi and China Railway International Co. were not allowed to bid.^[16]

According to the media, the final bids were submitted to CDPQ Infra on 27 October 2017.^[18] On 10 November 2017, the date of the planned announcement of the selected contractors, the procurement process was "postponed indefinitely," according to the Caisse's subsidiary, to provide more time for the analysis and evaluation of the bids received.^[19] On 8 February 2018, CDPQ Infra finally announced its selection: Groupe NouvLR consortium for the EPC contract (SNC-Lavalin Grands Projets, Dragados, Aecon, Pomerleau, EBC and AECOM) and the Groupe des Partenaires pour la Mobilité des Montréalais for the RSSOM contract (Alstom and SNC-Lavalin O&M).^[17][20] The contracts' value is estimated to be around $6.3 billion, out of which approximately 80% account for the EPC contract.^[21]

Construction[]

Preparatory work began in late March 2018.^[22] On 12 April 2018, the project broke ground officially.^[23]

In December 2019, CDPQ revised the capital cost of the project to $6.5 billion, an increase of $230 million.^[24][25]

In November 2020, A disruption from an "unexpected" explosion during the renovation of the Mont Royal Tunnel, which officials believe was caused by century-old explosives, delayed the opening of the central section of the REM to from 2022 to 2023.^[26]

In June 2021, CDPQ updated the project costs to $6.9 billion, an increase of $350 million, citing impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic in Montreal.^[27][28]

Route[]

The primary route is based around the Mount Royal Tunnel, where new underground stations are being built to connect with the existing McGill and Édouard-Montpetit Metro stations. New connections with commuter rail will be built near the A-40 to the Mascouche line.

Southeast from Central Station, the line will follow existing rail lines past Cité du Havre and across to Nuns' Island and then use a rail deck constructed on the new Champlain Bridge to cross the St. Lawrence. Three stations in Brossard on the South Shore are being built: Panama, connecting to the existing bus terminal, Du Quartier, directly connected to the DIX30 commercial district, and Brossard, a future bus terminus. One station, Chevrier, is part of future plans.

The northwest branch will be a direct conversion of the existing Deux-Montagnes line, with the doubling of the tracks beyond Bois-Franc station. On the West Island, new branch routes off the northwest branch will begin near the A-13, with the airport branch making a stop in Technoparc Saint-Laurent before terminating at Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport and the other branch will follow an existing rail corridor through Pointe-Claire and Kirkland before it ends in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue.

In the city centre, three stations are being built to interconnect with existing Metro lines; McGill will connect with the Green Line,^[11] Édouard-Montpetit will connect with the Blue Line,^[11] and Bonaventure Gare Centrale will connect with the Orange Line.

REM system and stations with their originally proposed names

Stations[]

The REM will consist of 26 stations on three branches. Twelve of these stations are currently on the Deux-Montagnes line and will become part of the REM after being converted to rapid transit standards. Several have received new names since the project's inception.^[29]

South Shore and Central section (all branches)[]

All stations on the main branch of the Réseau express métropolitain are projected to have a train frequency of 2.5 minutes during rush hour, and every 5 minutes otherwise, both towards Brossard station and towards the three different branches.

Station	Opening for REM[2]	Opened	Parking spots[30]	Bike racks	Connections
Brossard	Q3 2022	N/A	2950	50	RTL, Exo; 22 bus platforms
Du Quartier	Q3 2022		None	74	RTL; street stops only
Panama	Q3 2022		TBD	200	Terminus Brossard-Panama; RTL and Exo; 31 bus platforms
Île-des-Soeurs	Q3 2022		None	20	STM; 4 bus platforms
Griffintown–Bernard-Landry	2023		None	None	STM; street stops only
Central Station	Q3 2022	1943	None	None	, Amtrak, Mont-Saint-Hilaire line, Bonaventure Downtown Terminus (Terminus RTL), Société de transport de Montréal (STM)[31] Several other nearby connections via the RÉSO underground city.
McGill	Q4 2023	1966	None	None	McGill, STM Several other nearby connections via the RÉSO underground city.
Édouard-Montpetit	Q4 2023	1988	None	30	Édouard-Montpetit, STM
Canora	Q4 2023	1918	None	100	STM
Ville-de-Mont-Royal	Q4 2023	1918	None	60	STM
Côte-de-Liesse	Q4 2023	N/A	None	35	Mascouche line; STM; street stops only
Montpellier	Q4 2023	1918	None	60	STM; street stops only
Du Ruisseau	Q4 2023	1994	1,060	45	STM, STL; 1 bus platform + street stops
Bois-Franc	Q2 2024	1994	740	120	STM, STL; 6 bus platforms + street stops

Deux-Montagnes branch[]

Stations on the Deux-Montagnes branch are projected to run every five minutes during rush hour, and every fifteen minutes otherwise.

Airport branch[]

The Airport branch of the Réseau express métropolitain is projected to run every ten minutes during rush hour, and every fifteen minutes otherwise.

Anse-à-l'Orme branch[]

The Anse-à-l'Orme (formerly Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue) branch of the Réseau express métropolitain is projected to run every ten minutes during rush hour, and every fifteen minutes otherwise.

Controversies[]

In a report prepared by the Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement (BAPE) and released on 20 January 2017, the project was criticized. In the words of journalist Denis Lessard, "the BAPE poured cold water" on the project.^[35]

Notably, the BAPE pointed to a lack of crucial information being provided on the project's financial model, environmental impact, and impact on ridership levels throughout public transit networks around Montreal. Without such information, the BAPE declared that it was "premature to authorize the realization of this project".^[36]

The BAPE also estimated that CDPQ Infra did not meet its obligations for transparency, as it had failed to provide information in a timely fashion on the ridership levels of the REM's three antennaes (route branches).^[36]

The CDPQ Infra was also reproached for not studying the impact of the REM on existing public transit authorities.^[36] CDPQ Infra was criticized for not being able to answer questions like how much tickets would cost, whether municipalities on the REM would themselves have to pay for the necessary infrastructure for access to it, and whether municipalities also have to contribute to the REM's operation.^[36]

A lawsuit filed by Coalition Climat further alleged that the REM project violated federalism for a lack of federal assessment that harmed citizens' environmental rights by contributing to noise pollution and urban heat islands. The lawsuit was dismissed by the Quebec Superior Court on 13 December 2017.^[37]

Another controversy occurred in November 2019, when Montreal mayor Valerie Plante proposed naming Griffintown's REM station after controversial politician Bernard Landry, sparking a backlash from the city's Irish community.^[38] As a compromise, the station was named Griffintown–Bernard-Landry, which still proved controversial.^[39]

Future lines, stations and extensions[]

On 20 May 2019, the Quebec provincial government announced that they had requested CDPQi to study two REM extensions. The government also made a request to determine the best electrical transit system to be put in place for the Montreal East Island, with the possibility of it being a new REM line.^[40] The proposal became the REM de l'Est Project. The federal government also requested the Canadian Infrastructure Bank study a possible extension of the REM to Dorval train station.^[41] The city of Montreal requested two stations instead of one station at Bassin Peel.^[42] Mayor Valérie Plante announced funding for the West branch of the "Pink Line".^[43] This branch would be a continuation of a REM line, if it is the technology chosen by the CDPQi.

Laval branch[]

The REM would be extended nearly 20 km (12 mi) to Carrefour Laval from Du Ruisseau station.

Chambly extension[]

The REM would be extended nearly 30 km (19 mi) to Chambly and St-Jean-sur-Richelieu from Brossard station.

Dorval station[]

An extra station would be added at the Dorval train station to connect with Exo and Via Rail trains. This station would be about a 1-kilometre (0.62 mi) extension from the Airport station.

Pointe-Saint-Charles station[]

This station would be added between Île-des-Soeurs and Griffintown–Bernard-Landry stations.

REM de l'Est[]

The "REM de l'Est" line would start near Montreal Central Station on René-Lévesque in downtown, continuing east on Notre-Dame, then splitting into two branches: one heading to Pointe-aux-Trembles via Sherbrooke, and one heading to Cégep Marie-Victorin via Lacordaire. This line would connect to the REM's main line, Exo commuter rail trains, Via Rail at Central Station, the STM Green Line at Assomption and Honoré-Beaugrand stations, and the Blue Line at a future Lacordaire station. This line would also connect to the Mascouche line at Pointe-aux-Trembles station and Pie-IX bus rapid transit at Pie-IX Sud station.^[44][45]

Lachine "Pink Line West" branch[]

If the REM technology is chosen, this branch would connect Lachine to Downtown Montreal as an extension of the REM de L'Est.

See also[]

• Urban rail transit in Canada

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• Presentation of the project on the CDPQ Infra website