Report shows eastern portion of REM could cost $36B, no link downtown

The committee charged with evaluating the eastern portion of Montreal's coming light-rail system is recommending an entirely underground route with no link downtown, according to its final report.

The committee concluded that above-ground stations do not allow for "harmonious urban insertion" due to "their concrete structures, industrial in character, and their height compared to that of adjacent buildings."

"In addition to the visual impact, we must consider the noise and vibration impacts of this infrastructure in the surrounding environment and on residents' quality of life," says the report.

The cost of the eastern branch of the Réseau express métropolitain (REM), renamed Projet structurant de l'Est (PSE), would be $35.9 billion. The 34-kilometre route would accommodate 29,000 passengers during morning rush hour.

Some extensions rejected

The report recommends that the original route between Pointe-aux-Trembles and Cégep Marie-Victorin, in the borough of Montréal-Nord, be maintained. Two connections with the Montreal Metro's Green line, at the Assomption and Honoré-Beaugrand stations, are also added to the recommended project.

The revised scenario also calls for four new stations, including one in Laval, two in Rivière-des-Prairies and one in Charlemagne.

Extensions to Terrebonne and Mascouche were rejected due to high costs. Instead, the committee suggests that "studies be conducted to determine public transit service options in these municipalities."

Some municipalities in Montreal's northern suburbs said the final report lacks a clear structuring vision for the sector's public transit. Elected officials, including the mayors of L'Assomption, Repentigny, Charlemagne and Deux-Montagnes, denounced the fact that they had not been consulted by the committee or informed of its recommendations before the report was made public.

In addition, the mayors of Mascouche and Terrebonne criticized the lack of mobility solutions for their towns, home to 175,000 people.

No link to downtown

In the revised route, "Assomption station would become an important transfer station," says the report. The number of morning peak passengers [over a three-hour period] at this station would increase from 2,500 to 18,000," says the report.

But the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) said that "the available capacity of the green line is sufficient to support ridership growth, [including] that of the PSE, between now and 2050."

The report also confirms that the chosen route does not include any link to downtown, even underground.

First presented in 2020, the REM de l'Est, then led by CDPQ Infra, was to include an overhead section downtown. The Quebec government and the City of Montreal took over the project in May 2022.

Led by the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain, the committee responsible for delivering this final report brought together expertise from the Transport Ministry, the city of Montreal and the STM.