A week after the presentation of a new 100% underground version of the Eastern REM, valued at 36 billion, a former member of the project’s committee of experts is calling for efforts to be refocused. He suggests that Quebec and Montreal start with a “pink REM”, which would go from downtown to the northeast of the metropolis, a route similar to Valérie Plante’s pink line project.
” You have to start with what makes consensus”, explains to The Press Christian Savard, who is also the general manager of the Vivre en ville organization.
In a webinar held on Tuesday, Mr. Savard did not hide his disappointment with the final report on the Eastern Structuring Project (PSE). “This report, for me, it has sown consternation and confusion. This means that today we are probably further from a project than we were a year and a half ago, ”he argues.
The Press had revealed in early July that the committee behind the project recommends a route from Pointe-aux-Trembles to Cégep Marie-Victorin, in Montreal-Nord, with two connection points to the green line of the metro, in addition to an extension of four stations to Rivière-des-Prairies, Laval and Charlemagne. Experts argue for a 100% underground route. The final bill would reach 36 billion. Delivered in 2036, the project would cover 34 km and the ridership, at the morning peak, would be 29,000 passengers.
In quick succession, in the days that followed, Prime Minister François Legault and the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, hammered home the need to reduce costs. Mr. Legault even deplored that the committee’s initial mandate was to assess “a small part” underground, and not the entirety.
“Pink REM” Solution
To “regain control”, Christian Savard is now proposing a “pink REM” which, like the pink line, would leave from downtown Montreal to go to the northeast, either in Montreal-North or Rivière-des -Prairies, even as far as Saint-François in Laval. It would pass through several densely populated neighborhoods, such as Rosemont or the Plateau-Est. The project would still be underground, “because that’s precisely the part where everyone agrees that it should be,” says Mr. Savard.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Christian Savard
The route could connect to the blue line of the metro, the extension of which to Anjou must be completed by 2029. “It’s something that is mature, that the players want, that will get a lot of traffic . And in addition, it would even help relieve the orange line. For us, this is really the way to go to regain the initiative quickly”, persists the DG of Vivre en Ville.
In the short term, the latter would not however include the branch towards Pointe-aux-Trembles in this “priority route”. “There are still issues of integration and it is less unanimous. We need a little more thought for this segment,” he said.
As of 2020, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante’s pink line was valued at a bill of around $17 billion to $24 billion, three to four times more than Ms.me Plante said in 2017, during the election campaign.
According to Christian Savard, the bill for a pink REM would be “in these waters”. “It’s going to be expensive, but the decision we have to make is whether we want public transit to become an option in dense areas designed to accommodate it. It’s a societal choice,” he says. In his eyes, “one should not count in the number of current billions”, but rather “in the number of billions that we have not put in for 40-50 years”.
Vivre en Ville also calls for a “peaceful conversation” on collective air transport projects. “I don’t think you can only do underground. For now, it’s a very emotional conversation and often related to “Not in my backyard”. But it is legit fashion. And rejecting it in the way that the last report does is a lack of responsibility,” argues Mr. Savard.
More users for exo?
Further north, where the REM is to be inaugurated by the end of 2024, figures released Tuesday by exo also show that just over 50% of users – out of a sample of some 1,100 respondents surveyed online – intend to use more public transit after the arrival of light rail. This will force, as in the south, a complete overhaul of the exo network.
Like the Chambly-Richelieu-Carignan and Le Richelain/Roussillon sectors, which were completely redeveloped with the arrival of the first section of the REM, exo intends to improve many local lines to boost local supply in Vaudreuil-Soulanges and Terrebonne-Ouest , among others.
“We want to create a ring of connection on the North Shore. That’s something that doesn’t exist at the moment,” says exo’s strategic network overhaul advisor, Vincent Pelletier-Bonenfant.
He maintains that the new network will facilitate travel on the north-south axis, between Saint-Jérôme and the Laval metro, but also from east to west. “The goal is to create a solid framework on which we can then continue to develop new lines. Redesign is not an end. We are laying a solid foundation for the future, ”slips the adviser.