During the years of repair of the bridge-tunnel, why not pass OVER while navigating on the river?
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A Madelinot with a singsong accent, Alain Arseneault, pilots the Volkerak, a 47-seater that provides a free shuttle between Boucherville and the Tétreauville district of Montreal.
Photo Louis-Philippe Messier
Captain Alain Arseneault
For the 7:15 am departure, we are 14 passengers.
“I hate public transport, I avoid the bus, but the boat is something else!” exclaims Chantale, a special educator who lives in Varennes and who has parked her car near the quay.
- Listen to local journalist Louis-Philippe Messier on QUB radio:
“My friends make jokes about me. The cruise has funand, yes, I really enjoy going boating for an hour a day!”
Photo Louis-Philippe Messier
View of the River Shuttle passenger cabin.
The Bellerive park landing stage is not close to any metro station. Three passengers have bicycles on board. One uses an electric scooter. For me, it will be BIXI.
“The boat is magnificent during sunrise,” says Danielle, a teacher at Collège Ville-Marie, who has been a boater for over a year.
“The boat takes 30 minutes to leave the island, compared to the hour and a half it could take me by car!” says Pierre-Luc Blanchette, owner of the AAA Gourmet butcher shop.
“I’d rather arrive oxygenated at work than smash in traffic!” says Isabelle, a teacher who supervises the physiotherapy internship at the Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine hospital.
She drinks her coffee and has breakfast on board.
Our crossing companions rejoice in the spectacle of the rising sun.
“I don’t understand why so few people use the shuttle,” says Danielle.
Neither do I !
Photo Louis-Philippe Messier
The decor of the departure from Boucherville is very bucolic, especially in the morning!
Departures are every 45 minutes from 6:30 a.m. to 7:15 p.m. from Boucherville to Montreal (10:15 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on weekends) and from 7:15 a.m. to 8 p.m. from Montreal to Boucherville (11 a.m. at 7:15 p.m. on weekends) Information: navark.ca