The target of numerous criticisms, the Eastern REM as designed by the Caisse de depot et placement has been put on the back burner. The Legault government is taking the project in hand with a view to presenting a more acceptable version.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
The second phase of the Metropolitan Express Network (REM) had been derailed for some time. In February, the Regional Metropolitan Transport Authority (ARTM) produced a devastating opinion on this new section of the automated train of CDPQ Infra, a subsidiary of the Caisse. The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) had also expressed many criticisms in an internal analysis.
A month later, CDPQ Infra announced that the public hearings of the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE) scheduled for this spring would be postponed. The group refused to go further without a clear position from the City of Montreal about the new version of its 10 billion dollar project. He let it be known that the REM de l’Est would be abandoned without the firm support of the City and the ARTM.
The government has since begun discussions with Valérie Plante about the “governance” of the project. The mayor has been insisting for months that she wants to be around the decision-making table to “participate more actively” in its development, especially since the City should spend at least 1 billion in facilities of all kinds along the route of 32 kilometers.
Prime Minister François Legault promised to make “as quickly as possible”, with the mayor, “a beautiful announcement of a beautiful adjusted project”.
According to our information, the Legault government, which had itself mandated the Caisse to design a new section of its REM to serve the east of the metropolis, decided to recover the file in order to completely revise the project. It is not clear at this stage which government entity – for example, the Ministry of Transport – will take up the mantle.
Quebec’s decision will inevitably lead to delays. Already, with the postponement of the BAPE, we could no longer hope for commissioning in 2029.
CDPQ Infra believes that it has delivered the most complete and feasible version of the REM de l’Est. The subsidiary of the Caisse defended its project until the end, and considers that it has not withdrawn from it. It was the Legault government that ultimately had the responsibility to decide, in light of the most recent proposal presented by the group, it is argued.
A government announcement could take place this Monday, according to TVA Nouvelles. CDPQ Infra representatives should not be present.
A controversial project
It was in 2019 that CDPQ Infra began to study a public transit project to the east of the city – as well as extensions of the REM in Laval and on the South Shore – at the request of the Legault government. This analysis led to the announcement of the Eastern REM in December 2020.
The fully automated network was to have 23 stations and be largely erected on aerial concrete structures, in order to contain the costs within the planned envelope.
The project has raised growing controversy over the months. Several groups of local citizens, as well as experts and senior officials, have issued warnings about the risk of an urban “fracture” in several neighborhoods.
CDPQ Infra has announced a series of changes to make its network more digestible, including the burying of a 500-meter section in the city center and another 7-kilometre section in the northeast. These changes have not allayed all fears, especially since the connection with the green line was abolished in the latest version of the project.
Phase 1 is progressing
The original REM is still under construction. This 67-kilometre automated network will connect downtown to the South Shore, to the Montréal-Trudeau airport, as well as to the West Island and to Deux-Montagnes. The first antenna of the project should be inaugurated by the end of 2022.
The Caisse began developing the REM in 2015 at the request of the Liberal government of Philippe Couillard. The original idea was to take advantage of the construction of the Samuel-De Champlain bridge to build a light transport network between the South Shore and downtown, but CDPQ Infra – the subsidiary created specifically for the REM – proposed a much more ambitious project.
Under the agreement with Quebec, the Caisse will own the network for at least 99 years – unless it decides to sell it – and will derive profits from it. Quebec and Ottawa, which have contributed financially to the project of more than 6.9 billion, will receive a return if the expected traffic is there.
CDPQ Infra argues that its business model – which includes financing, building and operating the network – has allowed the REM to move forward at unparalleled speed, while other public transit projects managed in a traditional way have been in the cards for decades in the metropolis.