Montreal’s light-rail network line to city’s south shore won’t open until spring 2023

Montreal’s light-rail network branch to the city’s south shore won’t be up and running by the end of this year as previously planned.

Service on the Réseau express métropolitain (REM)’s link to Brossard has officially been postponed to spring 2023 as announced Friday by the CDPQ Infra, the infrastructure project wing of Quebec’s public pension fund.

Jean-Marc Arbaud, president and CEO, said putting the link in service during the winter would have been “far from ideal.”

The CDPQ Infra wants to run more tests on the line during the cold months where operating conditions are more difficult. Officials say the goal is for public transit users to have “the best possible experience, as soon as possible.”

“Our teams have worked hard in the last few months in a challenging environment to deliver a reliable network,” Arbaud said in a statement. “Taking a few more months to deliver an experience that lives up to expectations was the responsible decision to make.”

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This isn’t the first time the opening of the REM branch between the city and Brossard has been pushed back. When it was postponed earlier this year, officials pointed to several challenges — including the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain issues.

The latest delay comes as commuters who travel between Montreal and its south shore are about to deal with more traffic woes. The Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine tunnel will be partially closed starting at the end of the month for major repair work. It is only expected to reopen at the end of 2025.

Meanwhile, Montreal’s future light-rail system has faced other delays this year. In June, it was announced the majority of the REM’s stations would not open before the end of 2024.

The massive transit network will have 26 stations and span across 67 kilometres of tracks across the Greater Montreal area.

— with files from Global News’ Tim Sargeant and The Canadian Press