We know that the Quebec media have a very developed critical sense which can quickly become acerbic when it comes to expressing or exalting the discontent of the population. This can sometimes give rise to a tendency towards denigration which unfortunately obscures the positive sides which should have been highlighted, as we have often seen with the REM file, for example.
Since it was first announced in 2016 and gave rise to the first shovelful of ground in 2018, the REM project has continued to be the subject of criticism of all kinds: on the journey proposed, the obstacles that the work caused, the cost overruns, the visual aspects, the schedule delays, the non-connection with the east of Montreal or the postponement of the section towards the airport…
Once the inauguration of the first 16 km line linking Brossard to the city center was celebrated on July 28, there were around twenty breakdowns that have occurred since then and communication problems with REM users that have made the headlines.
Just like the breakdowns which affected the elevators, or the escalators, or the noise of passing trains which disturbs the citizens of Pointe-Saint-Charles and Griffintown. Criticisms justified because they affect people’s lives, both that of users and residents who live near the new developing network.
But we often forget to point out that despite construction costs exceeding their initial estimate by almost 30% at the time of the first shoveling of the ground, the REM project remains the least expensive new public transportation network to have seen. the day in North America.
It is often said that no one is a prophet in his own country, but we could just as easily affirm that we are also often bad judges there. If it happens that the recognition and esteem of a work or a creator can only be acquired if they are confirmed externally, it is a bit the same phenomenon that we observe with the REM .
It’s an article published a month ago by the international financial news agency Bloomberg News which makes us realize how we can measure things in completely different ways depending on the point of view.
If in Quebec some believe that the Caisse de dépôt was incapable of properly managing the REM project because it went from an estimated budget of 6.3 billion in 2018 to nearly 8 billion today, outside the country, it is considered that the Caisse de dépôt has instead achieved a feat that should be exported throughout North America.
A North American model
With the latest budget revision of 7.97 billion made last September, the final REM bill will cost 138 million US dollars per mile, according to the Transit Costs Project of the Marron Institute of New York University, cited by the Bloomberg agency.
For comparison, the cost of expanding the Boston Metro Green Line, built above ground in an existing rail corridor, resulted in an expense of US$485 million per mile.
Bloomberg insists on the fact that the REM project cost almost three times less than the extension of the Boston subway, ten times less than that of the D line of the Los Angeles subway or 31 times less than phase 2 of the Second Avenue subway At New York…
And this, despite the fact that the promoters of the REM had to rebuild the century-old Mount Royal tunnel while developing two interchanges with metro stations, one of which ranks second among the deepest stations in North America, unlike the Boston metro which did not have to meet any of these constraints.
The REM is the exemplary public transportation project in North America both for its innovative financing approach – with the involvement of the Caisse de dépôt rather than relying on traditional public financing – and for its speed of delivery.
Despite being three years behind schedule, the REM was able to complete its first phase in seven years, which is significantly faster than all other projects of the same nature in the field of public transport which must deal with years of discussions, negotiations and various lawsuits even before the first shovelful of earth.
Seen from Quebec, we did not have this broader portrait which allows us to better appreciate the work that has been accomplished, work which will soon lead us, in exactly one year, to the start of operations of the second phase of the REM with its connection to the remaining 51 km of the network.
There will still be breakdowns, there will still be adjustments, there will still be discontent, but we will still be far, hopefully, from the entanglements that residents of Ottawa and Toronto are still experiencing with the implementation of their light rail system.
And it’s not true that we console ourselves when we compare ourselves because when we compare the REM to other public transport projects, we rejoice.