Philippe Batani

By Chelsey St-Pierre
The Suburban

The construction for the Metropolitan Light Rail System (REM) lines slated to be in operation for the West Island and the North Shore has been delayed to 2025.

The initial target date set for the REM was in 2021. Following the opening of the first REM line in the summer of 2023, construction costs rose from $6.4 billion to $8 billion. Delays and the rise in costs raised eyebrows at the Quebec legislature last week. “The only thing I can say is it won’t be in 2024,” Philippe Batani, executive vice-president of public affairs, communications and strategy at the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ Infra) responded to questions asked by Members of the National Assembly.

REM officials announced that the Deux-Montagnes and Anse-à-l’Orme stations that were planned for 2024 are facing delays as a result of the “complex work” to modernize the Mont Royal Tunnel. The Mount Royal Tunnel work was originally slated to be closed for two years with the reopening set for 2022. According to a statement issued by the CDPQ the new scheduled opening of the tunnel is postponed to late 2024 which will in turn postpone the commissioning of the Deux-Montagnes and Anse-à-l’Orme branches. When the tunnel was built in the early 1900s, the digging work took six years. Over a century later, it is taking nearly the same amount of time for crews to complete the work that was promised to be completed in a two-year time period. Over the coming months, work on bollard and sensor installations as well as the laying of 600 kilometres worth of electrical cables is left to be completed at the Mount Royal Tunnel.

While technical tests on the new lines are scheduled to begin in the next few weeks, Quebec Liberal Party MNA Frédéric Beauchemin stated at the National Assembly that the execution of the project should follow a proper planning process. “You can have a great plan but if you don’t execute properly, you’re going to have issues,” he said

Parti Québécois MNA Joël Arseneau openly questioned whether CDPQ Infra is the right player to develop collective transport. “When the previous Liberal government announced the REM project, it was said that budgets and timetables would be respected,” Arseau told reporters.

Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault said she is unbothered by the delays, stating that reliability and safety are primordial. “The fundamental criteria is the safety and reliability of the system. If more time is needed for more trials of the system before it is put into operation, I believe that it is the right thing to do.”n