Réseau express métropolitain

On 13 January 2015, Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard and Michael Sabia, CEO of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), agreed to a partnership in which the Crown corporation could assume financing for major transportation projects in the province, with $7.4 billion planned to be spent on infrastructure from 2014 to 2024.[7] Two of these projects were the South Shore Line and the Train de l'Ouest toward the West Island, which eventually merged to become the core of the REM project.[8]

On 22 April 2016, Sabia and Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre unveiled the project, then known as the Réseau électrique métropolitain, to the media. The estimated completion date for the first portion of the system was December 2020. On 22 June 2016, CDPQ Infra published two requests for qualification: one for the engineering, procurement and construction contract and the other for the rolling stock, systems, operation, and maintenance. The estimated value of the two contracts are $4 billion and $1.5 billion respectively.[9]

On 25 November 2016, CDPQ Infra announced the addition of three new stations to the project. These new stations—Central Station, McGill, and Édouard-Montpetit—would improve downtown Montreal service by integrating the REM with the Metro system through connections to the Orange, Green and Blue Lines. Included with news of the 3 new stations was an increased price tag of $5.9 billion for the entire project.[10][11]

On 15 June 2017, the Government of Canada pledged $1.28 billion to finance the project,[12] completing the financing of the project. Construction on the project was announced as starting at the end of 2017.

On 1 December 2017, the CDPQ extended the tender process on the project to the end of January 2018, citing a need for additional discussions with the bidders.[13]

Procurement

Exterior and interior of one of the Alstom Metropolis trains that will be used on the REM.

On 28 June 2016, CDPQ Infra launched two public tenders in parallel: one for "Engineering, Procurement and Construction" (EPC, or "Ingénierie, Approvisionnement et Construction des infrastructures" (IAC) in French), and a second, for "Rolling Stock, Systems and Operation and Maintenance Services" (RSSOM, or "Fourniture du Matériel Roulant, de Systèmes de conduite automatique et de Services d'Exploitation et de Maintenance" (MRSEM) in French).[14][15] Following a prequalification phase, the Caisse's subsidiary announced, on 10 November 2016, the qualified candidates that would be allowed to submit a bid:

• For the EPC contract, the competitors were the Groupe NouvLR consortium composed of SNC-Lavalin Grands Projets, Dragados, Aecon, Pomerleau, EPC and AECOM and the Kiewit-Eurovia consortium formed by Kiewit Corporation, Eurovia, WSP Global and Parsons Corporation;[16][17]
• For the RSSOM contract, three companies and consortia were in competition: Bombardier Transportation alone, Alliance Montréal Mobilité (composed of Parsons Corporation, Hyundai Rotem, RATP Dev and Thales Canada) and the Groupe des Partenaires pour la Mobilité des Montréalais (associating Alstom and SNC-Lavalin O&M).[16] Ansaldo STS-Hitachi and China Railway International Co. were not allowed to bid.[16]

According to LaPresse, final bids were submitted to CDPQ Infra on 27 October 2017.[18] On 10 November 2017, the date of the planned announcement of the selected contractors, the procurement process was "postponed indefinitely" to provide more time for analysis and evaluation of the bids received.[19] On 8 February 2018, CDPQ Infra finally announced its selection: Groupe NouvLR consortium for the EPC contract (SNC-Lavalin Grands Projets, Dragados, Aecon, Pomerleau, EBC and AECOM) and the Groupe des Partenaires pour la Mobilité des Montréalais for the RSSOM contract (Alstom and SNC-Lavalin O&M).[17][20] The contracts' value is estimated to be around $6.3 billion, of which approximately 80% is for the EPC contract.[21]

The primary route follows the Mount Royal Tunnel, where new underground stations are being built to connect with the existing McGill and Édouard-Montpetit Metro stations. A new connection to the Mascouche commuter rail line will be built near the A-40 at the Côte-de-Liesse station to allow this line that previously used the tunnel to have access to downtown.

Southeast from Central Station, the line will follow existing rail lines until Marc-Cantin Street, where it will transition to an elevated guideway and cross to Nuns' Island, and then use a rail deck constructed on the new Champlain Bridge to cross the St. Lawrence. Three stations in Brossard on the South Shore are being built: Panama, connecting to the existing bus terminal; Du Quartier, directly connected to the DIX30 commercial district; and Brossard, a future bus terminus.

The northwest branch will be a direct conversion of the existing Deux-Montagnes line, with a doubling of the tracks beyond Bois-Franc station. On the West Island, a new airport branch will separate near the A-13, with a stop in Technoparc Saint-Laurent before terminating at Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport. The other branch will follow an existing freight rail spur through Pointe-Claire, then follow the Quebec A-40 alignment just east of St-Jean Boulevard and continue through Kirkland before ending in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue.

In the city centre, three stations are being built to connect with existing Metro lines: McGill will connect with the Green Line,[11] Édouard-Montpetit will connect with the Blue Line,[11] and Bonaventure Gare Centrale will connect with the Orange Line.

REM system and stations with their originally proposed names

The REM will consist of 26 stations on three branches. Twelve of these stations are on the former suburban Deux-Montagnes line and will become part of the REM after being converted to rapid transit standards. Several have received new names since the project's inception.[29]

South Shore and Central section (all branches)

All stations on the main branch of the Réseau express métropolitain are projected to have a train frequency of 2.5 minutes during rush hour and every 5 minutes otherwise, both towards Brossard station and towards the three different branches.

Station	Opening for REM[2]	Opened	Parking spots[30]	Bike racks	Connections
Brossard	Q4 2022	N/A	2950	50	RTL, Exo; 22 bus platforms
Du Quartier	Q4 2022		None	74	RTL; street stops only
Panama	Q4 2022		700	200	Terminus Brossard-Panama; RTL and Exo; 31 bus platforms
Île-des-Soeurs	Q4 2022		None	20	STM; 4 bus platforms
Griffintown–Bernard-Landry	2023		None	None	STM; street stops only
Central Station	Q4 2022	1943	None	None	, Amtrak, Mont-Saint-Hilaire line, Bonaventure Downtown Terminus (Terminus RTL), Société de transport de Montréal (STM)[31] Several other nearby connections via the RÉSO underground city.
McGill	Q4 2023	1966	None	None	McGill, STM Several other nearby connections via the RÉSO underground city.
Édouard-Montpetit	Q4 2023	1988	None	30	Édouard-Montpetit, STM
Canora	Q4 2023	1918	None	100	STM
Ville-de-Mont-Royal	Q4 2023	1918	None	60	STM
Côte-de-Liesse	Q4 2023	N/A	None	35	Mascouche line; STM; street stops only
Montpellier	Q4 2023	1918	None	60	STM; street stops only
Du Ruisseau	Q4 2023	1994	1,060	45	STM, STL; 1 bus platform and street stops
Bois-Franc	Q2 2024	1994	740	120	STM, STL; 6 bus platforms and street stops

In a report prepared by the Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement (BAPE) and released on 20 January 2017, the project was criticized for failing to provide crucial information on the project's financial model, environmental impact, as well as the impact on ridership levels throughout the public transit network across Montreal. Without such information, the BAPE declared that it was "premature to authorize the approval of this project".[35] The BAPE also stated that CDPQ Infra had not met its obligations for transparency, as it had failed to provide information in a timely fashion on the ridership levels of the REM's three branches.[35] The CDPQ Infra was also reproached for not studying the impact of the REM on existing public transit authorities.[35] CDPQ Infra was criticized for not being able to answer questions like how much tickets would cost, whether municipalities on the REM would themselves have to pay for the necessary infrastructure for access to it, and whether municipalities would also have to contribute to the REM's operation.[35]

A lawsuit filed by Coalition Climat further alleged that the REM project violated federalism for a lack of federal assessment of the potential harm to citizens' environmental rights by its potential contribution to noise pollution and urban heat islands. The lawsuit was dismissed by the Quebec Superior Court on 13 December 2017.[36]

Another controversy occurred in November 2019, when Montreal mayor Valerie Plante proposed naming Griffintown's REM station after controversial politician Bernard Landry, sparking a backlash from the city's Irish community.[37] As a compromise, the station was named Griffintown–Bernard-Landry, which still proved controversial.[38]

On 20 May 2019, the Quebec provincial government announced that they had requested CDPQi to study two REM extensions. The government also made a request to determine the best electrified transit system to be put in place for the Montreal East Island, with the possibility of it being a new REM line.[39] The proposal became the REM de l'Est Project. The federal government also requested the Canadian Infrastructure Bank study a possible extension of the REM to Dorval train station.[40] The city of Montreal requested two stations instead of one station at Bassin Peel.[41] Mayor Valérie Plante announced funding for the West branch of the "Pink Line".[42] This branch would be a continuation of a REM line, if it is the technology chosen by the CDPQi.

• Urban rail transit in Canada

• Official website
• Presentation of the project on the CDPQ Infra website