In service for almost a year, the South Shore section of the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) is now completing its running-in phase, known as CDPQ Infra. The operator believes that it has made significant progress in terms of management and communication since the inauguration, an observation shared by the experts, who however point out that several problems remain.
“We’ve been using the word run-in for a while. Here, we are almost upon our first year of existence. I think we can stop saying that we are in progress with a capital R,” explains the deputy director of communications at CDPQ Infra, Francis Labbé, in an interview with The Press.
Since the launch of the South Shore section of the REM on July 31, the Caisse de dépôt has said that it is “in the running-in phase”, an expression that it sometimes uses to justify failures of the light rail, such as repeated breakdowns or even prolonged service interruptions.
But almost 11 months later, that period is now officially coming to an end. And according to Mr. Labbé, some signs do not lie.
For example, if just a few months ago, restarting the light train after a breakdown took an hour on average, “we are now down to around 20 minutes”, notes spokesperson Francis Labbé.
“This is a major change for us, and this explains why the breakdowns are fewer and last less long most of the time,” he maintains.
In terms of communication, “we have also improved a lot,” believes Francis Labbé. In addition to the social network X, several other communication channels have been set up to keep users informed of incidents, including a text message service. Some station messages have also been revised.
“Rent somewhere else”
At Trajectoire Québec, an organization defending the interests of public transport users, the general director, Sarah V. Doyon, also believes that the REM “has gone elsewhere, and is no longer running smoothly”.
Afterwards, that doesn’t mean that because we are no longer running, there will never be breakdowns, but we expect that there will be fewer of them and, above all, that the response will be better managed. I don’t want to hear anymore that we’re in training. From now on, the machine is well oiled, this is no longer an excuse.
Sarah V. Doyon, from Trajectoire Québec
In his eyes, the most complex challenge will come “when they have to migrate to a single control center”. “Currently, there is one on the South Shore, there will be one for the other branches, but then everything will be integrated into one. I know that this aspect worries the Caisse de dépôt, which has little time to do it with a system that is running all the time. It’s going to be a crucial moment,” she persists.
“For the rest, we hope that they have learned enough on the South Shore to not make the same mistakes on the other sections. »
At the University of Montreal, transport planning expert Pierre Barrieau provides another perspective. “A year is good, but based on the management of interruptions, I don’t think we are fully out of the running time. Whether for people with reduced mobility or air conditioning issues, there are still important things to refine,” he says.
According to him, Ottawa’s light rail, which experienced several hiccups at the start, “has just reached maturity after more than three years of service.” “With the REM, we are close, but I wouldn’t necessarily declare victory yet. Nevertheless, the situation is improving greatly every month,” assures Mr. Barrieau.
What you also need to keep in mind is that winter will return. And given the challenges there were last season, we can think that there will be some running-in during the second winter.
Pierre Barrieau, transport planning expert
“The impact of the opening of the new branches of the REM, somewhere in 2025, must also be taken into account. Obviously, there will be disruptions on the South Shore section,” the expert also suggests.
Exit updates
Almost every weekend for several months, the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) has had to close at the start of the day to carry out “updates” of its systems. A necessary process, which should however fade by the end of summer.
Such an update may affect several components of light rail. “It could be the screens in the cars, the systems that allow communication with passengers or minor bug fixes in the software for the ride systems,” illustrates Francis Labbé.
Typically, the process takes six hours. And as the REM is in service 20 hours a day, two hours of service must therefore be removed each time. “The challenge is that once our tests are finished at night, we have to put the previous version back on the trains,” says Mr. Labbé.
“That said, there will be significantly fewer by the end of the summer, that’s the commitment we’re making. Somewhere, the system will therefore have gained in maturity,” concludes the spokesperson.