First REM tracks laid as construction of commuter rail continues on schedule

The first tracks have been laid as part of the $6.3 billion REM commuter rail system.

According to spokesperson Jean-Vincent Lacroix, workers laid the first tracks recently.

“We achieved an important milestone on the REM project,” he told Global News.

Testing is set to begin next year on the leg that runs from Brossard to downtown Montreal.

That leg — including the section over the new Champlain Bridge — is scheduled to be up and running by 2021.

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“It opens a whole lot of opportunities,” said South Shore resident Theodore Tremblay-Menand. “I think it’s just great.”

All of the rail network is slated to carry passengers by 2023. Lacroix said that construction is continuing on schedule.

WATCH: (June 24, 2019) Montreal’s new Champlain Bridge opens northbound

2:18 Montreal’s new Champlain Bridge opens northbound