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Posted on March 20
Has the Eastern REM been considered at ground level? The one coming from the Brossard station is at ground level for a large part of the route, so why wouldn’t it be feasible on René-Lévesque?
L.Couture
In several European cities, think of Nice, Berlin or Bordeaux, trams run on the ground and fit perfectly into the urban fabric. Montreal tourists are always delighted with the ease with which they can take this user-friendly mode of transportation that allows them to get around and visit a city.
And the question arises: why not in Montreal?
As for the REM de l’Est, the project promoter, CDPQ Infra, commissioned a comparative study on the various possible options last spring. The engineering firm AECOM-SYSTRA, which carried out the study, compared three modes of transport for the east end of Montreal: the tram, which would have run on the ground, the tram-train, which would have been in hybrid mode ( ground and aerial), and finally the light metro, which is the mode finally favored by the promoter.
Why does the Caisse rely on light rail? Largely because he’s the fastest of the three.
Remember that CDPQ Infra’s business model is based on the number of people transported and the speed of the trip. To sum up roughly, more users, more frequency, and therefore more revenue.
However, the tramway, with a speed of 29 km/h, is the slowest of the three modes studied by the engineers. It is followed by the tram-train which runs at about 35 km/h. The light rail can travel at around 42 km/h. And it has other advantages in the eyes of the Fund: it can circulate without worrying about car traffic since it is aerial or underground. And it is remote controlled so you don’t need human resources (driver etc.) to operate it.
Could we not reduce our travel speed by 13 km/h in exchange for a more user-friendly mode of transport that is less catastrophic for the urban landscape?
The public debate around the REM being far from over, the choice of the light metro has not yet been set in stone. So to be continued…