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

Click to play video: 'South Shore REM lines ready for testing'
South Shore REM lines ready for testing
WATCH: The REM has installed the first set of tracks near Quartier Dix 30 in Brossard. As Global's Billy Shields explains, the REM expects to start testing the tracks in 2020 – Jul 30, 2019

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.

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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.

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

Click to play video: 'Montreal’s new Champlain Bridge opens northbound'
Montreal’s new Champlain Bridge opens northbound

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