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Montréal Transit Developments

I am back in Montreal working in the airport/40 area. I have noted that they still appear to be stringing (catenary) cable on some of the elevated sections. So I am assuming there is still some time to go before opening of this section is finalized. Is there a public date as yet?

Working on coming up with a business related excuse to get over to the south side. So far I am stuck on checking out the DIX30…..
 

Break down of the cost overruns for the project.

$800 million because of supply chain issues and pandemic measures plus the war in Ukraine
$500 million for tweaks to stations from community/city feedback
$350 million to deal with complications from Mont Royal tunnel explosives

REM officials are also stating that service to the south shore is running at 99% on-time performance. This is from 6 service interruptions that stopped service for 8 hours of 860 hours of operation.

REM ridership is at 30k per day on average.
 
A bit more detail from CDPQi:


- Network is 85% complete, although tracks and catenary still need to be installed on parts of the route, including in the Mont-Royal tunnel.
- 86/106 trains delivered.
- Testing of phase 2 to begin spring 2024 (which would give 6-9 months for testing).
 
Québec City streetcar project looks like it's dead. A last minutes meeting today will seal the fate. Cost estimates more than doubled and no consortium made a bid due to financing issues.



The government is now talking about heavy transport for Quebec City. According to Minister Julien, there are several models: a fast bus service (SRB), a Metropolitan Express Network (REM) or a metro.
 
I'm going to take a wild guess that CDPQ is going to propose and prioritize a REM like line for the third link... and more or less leave it to the city to do something cheaper than the tram on Rene-Levesque.
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Even setting aside the merits of this as a project, the politics of bailing out both the tunnel and transit plans would be amazing, and would put CDPQ in a great position to build something in Quebec while the dust from REM 1 settles in Montreal and come back to REM de l'Est once people start seeing the benefits.

And further time a QC Line 2 in a similar way as a post REM de l'Est once the first QC line is showing results... hopefully to the effect that more elevated construction on Laurier and north of the core starts to be palatable...
 
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Are there any plans to fund some kind of EXO improvement/ expansion project much like what Metrolinx is doing with GO Expansion? Feels like EXO has taken a backseat to REM. I've even heard some claim that REM is actually going to destroy EXO. Apparently REM got rid of EXO's most profitable line and also made it impossible for EXO to have a centrally, located station for all EXO lines to converge onto.
 
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Are there any plans to fund some kind of EXO improvement/ expansion project much like what Metrolinx is doing with GO Expansion? Feels like EXO has taken a backseat to REM. I've even heard some claim that REM is actually going to destroy EXO. Apparently REM got rid of EXO's most profitable line and also made it impossible for EXO to have a centrally, located station for all EXO lines to converge onto.
There isn't EXO dedicated track, the way Metrolinx owns the territory on LSE/LSW/(most of) Kitchener/Stouffville/Barrie. EXO owns the former Deux Montagnes line and short sections of Mascouche, Vaudreil, and St. Jerome, but it's not something you can RER-ify. Can't upgrade anything without track ownership.
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REM expanded onto the South Shore, which couldn't have happened with commuter rail rolling stock. Though there probably is an argument to be made that there were other ways to upgrade Deux Montagnes that don't preclude using the Mont Royal tunnel.
 
There isn't EXO dedicated track, the way Metrolinx owns the territory on LSE/LSW/(most of) Kitchener/Stouffville/Barrie. EXO owns the former Deux Montagnes line and short sections of Mascouche, Vaudreil, and St. Jerome, but it's not something you can RER-ify. Can't upgrade anything without track ownership.

That certainly makes it a longer-term project. However, 15 years ago when The Big Move was proposed Metrolinx didn't own much track either.
 
That certainly makes it a longer-term project. However, 15 years ago when The Big Move was proposed Metrolinx didn't own much track either.
Metrolinx (or TTR through Union) owned a lot more track 15 years ago than Exo owns today.

Mind you, 15 years ago, Exo owned more track than it does today! 🤣
 
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