The cost of the Réseau express métropolitain (REM), a first section of which was put into service this summer, now stands at $7.95 billion, or 26% more than the original estimate of $6.3 billion in 2018. Part of this increase is attributable to the impacts of the pandemic and the pitfalls encountered during work in the Mont-Royal tunnel, CDPQ Infra indicated on Wednesday, presenting the financial update of the project.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have had significant effects on supply projects, the price and availability of goods and labor, underlined CDPQ Infra, which puts the costs at 800 million additional information related to these issues. The discovery of a century-old charge of dynamite in the tunnel under Mount Royal also forced site managers to modify working methods on the ground, which required additional investments of 350 million. An amount of 500 million, which corresponds to improvements to the project and various developments around the stations, also contributed to inflating the REM bill.
CDPQ Infra, however, believes that the REM compares to other projects in the world in terms of compliance with the schedule and costs. “All of the additional costs of the project are covered by CDPQ Infra,” said Jean-Marc Arbaud, President and CEO of CDPQ Infra. Thus, the bill of 2.56 billion shared by Quebec and Ottawa remains unchanged, he said. As for the expected returns, the subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec estimates them at 8% over a 30-year horizon.
A project that has evolved
Originally, however, the cost of the REM was estimated at 5.5 billion in 2016 when the Caisse and the Couillard government announced the broad outlines of the project. At the time, however, there were 24 stations, instead of the current 26. “It’s not the same project,” pointed out Jean-Marc Arbaud. There were missing stations, trains and a lot of modifications were made. »
For the moment, CDPQ Infra is maintaining the schedule for the commissioning of the two other antennas, namely those towards the west of the island of Montreal and towards Deux-Montagnes, for the end of 2024. Tests should begin in the spring of 2024. As for the section towards Montreal-Trudeau airport, its inauguration is planned for 2027.
Jean-Marc Arbaud did not want to move forward on the construction schedule for Griffintown station, the completion of which has been promised. “Adding a station during the project is very difficult,” he maintained. “We are in the process of finalizing the studies on the implementation conditions. » CDPQ Infra should be able to specify timelines for this station by early 2024, he said.
Ultimately, the REM will comprise 67 kilometers and to date, 85% of the work has been completed, indicates CDPQ Infra. According to Jean-Marc Arbaud, there should not be too many unpleasant surprises, the technical challenges having been largely resolved. “The major issues are behind us,” he maintained, referring in particular to the problems encountered in the Mont-Royal tunnel.
Noise
However, the noise pollution denounced by residents of Île-des-Soeurs, Pointe-Saint-Charles and Griffintown has still not been resolved. CDPQ Infra, however, promises to make corrections and present its solutions to citizens during meetings to be held at the end of September. Mr. Arbaud does not expect that the other sections of the network which will come into service later will generate the same type of noise problems.
Since the entry into service of a first section between Brossard and Central Station on July 31, the REM has recorded more than a million passages with a daily average of 30,000 trips. The busiest day took place on September 7 with 35,000 visits. Despite six service interruptions totaling eight hours of train downtime out of 880 hours of operations, CDPQ Infra claims that the REM has a high reliability rate estimated at 99%.