2023-07-29 00:00:00
The Réseau express métropolitain (REM) made its inaugural crossing on Friday with, on board, Prime Ministers Justin Trudeau and François Legault, as well as the Mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante. The Caisse de depot et placement du Québec (CDPQ), which piloted the project, however, did not reveal the total cost of its new automatic train.
“It’s a very good day for Montreal,” commented Prime Minister Justin Trudeau upon his arrival at Central Station following the train journey from Brossard station. “It wasn’t rush hour, but we were passing cars and overtaking them,” he added, encouraging citizens to try it.
Earlier in the morning, during a ceremony held at the Brossard station, Justin Trudeau had praised the environmental virtues of the REM. “The REM is 100% electric. When completed, it will be able to reduce greenhouse gases for the equivalent of 30,000 cars […] per day”, he said during his speech to an audience of several hundred people, including former Prime Minister Philippe Couillard, the former big boss of the Caisse Michael Sabia and the former mayor of Montreal Denis Coderre.
“I really think it will change the way of seeing public transit in Quebec,” said François Legault. For a long time in Quebec, we talked a lot, but we did not achieve much […] Quebecers are still capable of carrying out major projects. It’s going well, because we still have a lot of them coming. »
secret numbers
Still, the total REM bill is still unknown. On Friday, the president and chief executive of the Caisse, Charles Émond, promised that a financial update would be presented “very quickly”. The last update, which dates back to 2021, mentioned a cost of 6.9 billion, but the final bill will undoubtedly be higher given inflation and the problems that have arisen in the tunnel under Mount Royal. “When we compare ourselves with other projects in the world, we will compare very favorably,” he said. Mr. Émond assured that the profitability of the project for the Caisse was maintained at 8 to 9% as initially announced and that it had no intention of selling sections in the short or long term.
For his part, Prime Minister Legault did not seem worried regarding rising costs for the government. “What we know is that the overruns will be borne by the Caisse de depot. This is the beauty of the financial package, ”he argued in a press scrum.
Asked regarding the fate of the Eastern Structuring Project — formerly known as the Eastern REM — the Prime Minister said he hoped the file might materialize. Remember that at the beginning of July, the Regional Metropolitan Transport Authority (ARTM) had proposed an underground train network at a cost of $36 billion, an amount that the Prime Minister had deemed “unrealistic”. “We must respect Quebecers’ ability to pay,” he said. “We have a project that will go as far as Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue. It is time that we also have something for the east end of Montreal. »
This first antenna of five stations, from Brossard to Central Station, will officially enter service on Monday, but the public will be able to board the trains for free on Saturday and Sunday between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. The president and CEO of CDPQ Infra, Jean-Marc Arbaud, who took over from Macky Tall in 2020, said he hoped Quebecers would take ownership of the REM.
One hundred travelers test the REM
On Friday, the first hundred travelers chosen following a contest were able to board the REM to go to Brossard. Montrealer Chad Poleto was enthusiastic a few minutes before boarding. “I think it will be a good thing for Montreal to have access to public transit for everyone, which is accessible, which goes from one suburb to another. It’s going to make things a lot easier and it’s good for fighting climate change. There will be fewer cars on the road. »
For his part, Tianyi Zhang was curious to discover the REM. “I feel lucky to be able to experience this today,” said the 22-year-old. However, he is impatiently awaiting the opening of the Griffintown station, which will be located not far from his place of residence.
By 2027, the REM will have 26 stations over 67 kilometers, with branches to the west of the island of Montreal, Deux-Montagnes and Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau International Airport.
REM trains will be in service every day, 20 hours a day.
With Miriam Lafontaine
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