More questions are being raised about the future of the electric train network for greater Montreal.
The sprawling mass-transit system which covers more than 67 kilometres of track is coming under fire for encouraging urban sprawl and creating a monopoly in the mass-transit system.
Some city councillors are concerned the light-rail electric train system, known as the REM, will become a monopoly as an internal agreement between a subsidiary of Quebec’s Pension Fund Manager, CDPQ-Infra, and other transit agencies is becoming more and more public.
It calls for other transit agencies to act as almost exclusive feeders to the REM instead of complementing service. For instance, express STM buses running between the Fairview shopping centre in Pointe-Claire and downtown won’t be allowed to run once the REM opens its station at Fairview and runs trains to and from downtown.
“It’s very worrisome when they want that set in stone where they’re going to have control of the pricing, let’s not forget,” Opposition Montreal City Coun. Lionel Perez told Global News.
The REM will also be taking over the Deux-Montagnes commuter rail line currently owned by the RTM and it plans to lure away riders on the Vaudreuil line.
“Will it be more ridership or is it just going to cannibalize existing ridership? That question hasn’t been adequately answered,” Montreal City Coun. Marvin Rotrand told Global News.
Jean-Vincent Lacroix, a spokesperson for the REM disagrees.
“The goal is not competition with another network. It’s to be complementary,” he told Global News.
Rotrand is also concerned about the impact the vast network will have on urban sprawl, demanding to know why the last station on the south shore stops in the southwest quadrant of the A10 and A30 intersection of Brossard — a rural, undeveloped area.
“I think it’s a measure of urban sprawl. It’s going to be built to the unbuilt areas of Brossard,” he said.
A concern echoed by Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante.
“We’ve always had to be careful about urban sprawl. It’s something that we all have to take into consideration,” Plante told Global News.
Construction on the $6.3-billion project is slated to begin next month.