After the ARTM and the STM, it is Exo’s turn to worry about the consequences of the arrival of the REM de l’Est for the public transport networks already in place.
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The organization is notably responsible for managing the commuter train network in the metropolitan area. It is in particular for line 5 Mascouche, which joins the city center via Pointe-aux-Trembles and Montreal-North, that the concerns are great.
“What we see is that the service is deteriorating for customers who use this line to the city center. Either they must correspond, or they must go to the REM”, explained Sylvain Yelle, general manager, in a telephone interview, who deplores this “setback” for customers.
“Our concern is that these people are abandoning public transport,” he warned, specifying that he was not positioning himself against the REM.
He had also published an open letter in “La Presse” on Thursday to denounce the situation.
The Mascouche train line was inaugurated in December 2014, after investments of $700 million. After peaking at 1.8 million users in 2018, traffic has dropped to around 110,000 in the past year, according to figures provided by Exo.
One of the main reasons, according to Mr. Yelles, is the arrival of REM 1.0, which imposes a major detour on train users. While the journey from the terminus to the Central station used to be done in 1 hour, it now takes 1 hour 40 minutes to get to the city center.
“We wasted a lot, a lot of time. The most important factor, for people who move, is duration. And we came to completely deteriorate that time, ”he said sorry.
The director of Exo now fears that the arrival of the REM from the East will give the final blow to this train line.
“We are afraid that the traffic that was there will continue to decrease, and that this will cause the line to no longer be profitable and that it will be completely abandoned,” he was alarmed.
CDPQ Infra wants to reassure
On the side of the CDPQ Infra, which manages the REM de l’Est, it is indicated that the project is still in the “planning phase” and that it continues to be improved.
“We want to join forces with a vision where the networks are not put in competition, but where each one contributes more widely to offer the best possible service to the users”, indicated by email Emmanuelle Rouillard-Moreau, adviser in media relations.
She adds that the Caisse collaborates with the various transport companies “on a regular basis” to find solutions that meet the needs of users.
On February 8, the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM) released the major findings of a devastating report on the REM. The document believes that the project would cause too much inconvenience and that other options should instead be considered.
The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) had also strongly criticized the Eastern REM project, through an internal note that the author of these lines was able to consult.
The document provides that the future REM de l’Est would cannibalize the other existing public transit infrastructures, and that significant drops in ridership would be expected on the existing network because of this competition. This, in addition to the operating expenses assumed by the City, which would increase “skyrocket”.