The last stage prior to the launch of the Metropolitan Express Network (REM), the famous “blank run”, will finally begin on Wednesday between Brossard station and Central Station. The exercise, which consists of operating the system at its normal frequency and speed, but without any users, will last approximately one month.
This was revealed by CDPQ Infra on Monday, in a brief press release, adding that “depending on the progress” of this dry run, an official date for the commissioning of the REM may be confirmed “in the coming weeks”. .
In its statement, the organization adds that this “final phase consists of simulating the service of the future light metro line, without passengers”. In the coming days, REM cars will therefore circulate “with frequencies similar to the future service”, specifies the Caisse.
She recalls in passing that to reach this final stage, “the teams have completed various decisive milestones in the last 12 months, that is to say the complete electrification of the 16.6 km of the Rive-Sud branch, the crossing of the Samuel-De Champlain Bridge and a third consecutive winter of intensive testing”.
In other words, everything should now work perfectly. CDPQ Infra has already said publicly that its objective was to obtain an overall reliability rate of over 95% for at least 10 consecutive days.
Until recently scheduled for late spring, the commissioning of the first section of the REM has again been postponed to this spring. In mid-May, The Press revealed that the crucial “blank run” stage had not even begun. The total cost of the project will only be revealed after the launch: it will exceed the 7 billion dollars announced so far, while a 30% increase cannot be excluded.
In the public transit industry, we are already preparing to begin a vast transition with the arrival of the REM, most operators – first and foremost, the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) and the Réseau de transport de Longueuil ( RTL) – having to carry out major overhauls of their networks.
Please note: the Caisse de dépôt has a legal obligation to notify various partners at least 30 days in advance of when the train will be in service – including transport companies, the government and the municipalities concerned, in particular.
With Tommy Chouinard and André Dubuc