The impressive construction site of the Édouard-Montpetit station of the Réseau express métropolitain (REM), which we were able to visit on Wednesday, looks like a mine, in the heart of Montreal.
When it opens in 2023, this REM station, built 70 meters underground, will be the deepest subway station in the country and the second in North America, behind Washington Park, Oregon.
But until it opens, a lot of work remains to be done. On Wednesday, as is generally the case, around fifty workers were at work.
In addition to having required the excavation of 30,000 cubic meters of rock, this site poses many challenges, in particular because of its depth.
Photo Joël Lemay, QMI Agency
“This kind of work, it’s the same type that we do in the Far North of Quebec, when we dig to make a water avenue, but we did that in the heart of the city” , explains one of the engineers of the REM, Jean-Philippe Pelletier.
The narrowness of the site and its proximity to shops also complicate the work, says the engineer.
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20 floors in 30 seconds
Once the station is in service, “five high-speed elevators that will travel the equivalent of a 20-story building in less than 30 seconds” will allow REM users to access the station, says CPDQ Infra, the division of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec responsible for the construction of the REM.
Photo Joël Lemay, QMI Agency
Elevators will travel the equivalent of a 20-story building in less than 30 seconds.
But for the purposes of the visit, we were able to access the station aboard a lift, from the entrance located at the corner of avenue Vincent-D’Indy and boulevard Édouard -Montpetit, in the district of Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.
The REM station is built a few steps from the station of the same name on the blue line of the Montreal metro, which will be accessible through an underground passage, not far from the University of Montreal campus.
Photo Joël Lemay, QMI Agency
Trains under Mount Royal
To access the Édouard-Montpetit station, the REM trains will use the tunnel under Mount Royal. Ultimately, around 500 trains will run there every day, says Jean-Philippe Pelletier.
Joël Lemay / QMI Agency
The tunnel where the REM train will pass
This station will also make it possible to realize the dream of the former mayor of Montreal, Jean Drapeau, who wanted to make metro trains pass through the tunnel under the mountain.
Before it closed for the start of work on the REM, this tunnel was used by the Exo trains of the Deux-Montagnes and Mascouche lines.
Photo Joël Lemay, QMI Agency
Photo Joël Lemay, QMI Agency
Fall 2023
Construction of the exterior of the station is due to be completed within the next few months. Its opening is scheduled for late fall 2023.
The commissioning of the first branch of the REM, which will link the South Shore to downtown Montreal, is scheduled for summer 2022.
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