THE third section of Montreal’s Metropolitan Express Network (REM), totalling 14km and serving four stations, officially opened to the public on May 18.
Part-financed by the Quebec Deposit and Investment Fund (CDPQ) under a public-private partnership (PPP) and delivered by the pension fund’s wholly-owned subsidiary CDPQ Infra, the new section extends the automated light metro system on Montreal’s West Island. It adds stations at Des Sources, Fairview-Pointe-Claire, Kirkland and the new terminus at Anse-à-l’Orme.
The journey time between Montreal’s city centre and the network’s most westerly terminus is about 30 minutes. Trains on the new section are scheduled to run every 10 minutes at peak times and every 15 minutes at other times.
The REM network now extends to 64km with 24 stations. A 3km extension to Montreal-Trudeau International Airport, with two new stations, is due to open next year, when the network’s capacity is expected to rise to 170,000 passengers a day.
For the REM project, Alstom has delivered a complete light metro system, including 106 two-car Metropolis trains, Urbalis CBTC for driverless operation at Grade of Automation 4 (GoA4), an Urbalis Vision control centre system, platform screen doors, onboard Wi-Fi, and cybersecurity provision.
Pulsar, an Alstom-AtkinsRéalis joint venture, operates and maintains REM under a 30-year contract.
For detailed information on metro projects across North America, subscribe to IRJ Pro.
