As shuttle bus service ends, transit agency says REM can be trusted
Shuttle buses were put in place in February due to the REM's unreliability
As of Monday, people commuting between downtown Montreal and the South Shore will no longer have access to shuttle buses as a plan B — and the people behind the REM say you can trust that the light-rail train service will run smoothly from now on.
Since February, the transit planning agency for the greater Montreal area, known by its French acronym ARTM, had arranged for shuttle buses to run parallel to the REM due to recurring technical problems with the light-rail train that caused many delays for commuters.
During that time, both the ARTM and the CDPQ Infra — the subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec that developed the REM — acknowledged that shuttle buses were a necessary backup plan because trains had become too unreliable.
"Satisfying levels of stability and performance over the past few weeks allow us to efficiently meet the users' needs," the ARTM wrote in a statement this past weekend.
Jean-Marc Arbaud, the president and CEO of CDPQ Infra, echoed those sentiments, adding that the REM service has become more predictable in recent weeks.
The shuttle buses were operated by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) and the Réseau de transport de Longueuil (RTL).
Here are the three shuttle buses that will no longer run:
- Shuttle bus 722 (RTL) between the Panama station and the Central Station in downtown Montreal.
- Shuttle bus 721 (STL) between the Brossard station and the Central Station.
- Shuttle bus 568 (STL) between the Île-des-Soeurs station and the Central Station.
The REM's constant service issues drew the ire of riders as well as Doreen Asaad, the mayor of Brossard.
In February, she called for bus lines 45 and 90 to be permanently re-established. The two lines transported riders over the Champlain Bridge to Montreal before the REM's non-compete clause axed them.
Due to work on the REM's network, the service hours between downtown Montreal and the South Shore are restricted. Trains runs between 5:30 a.m. and about 8:40 p.m., depending on the direction. The REM is shut down on weekends.
Shuttle buses will remain available after 8:40 p.m. on weekdays and on weekends. And the ARTM promises that the shuttle service will return when work is planned on the light-rail train network.
Written by Antoni Nerestant with files from Radio-Canada