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Montreal commuters worry about longer, costlier transit as REM opening draws near
‘I kind of feel abandoned,’ says commuter
Joe Bongiorno · CBC News · Posted: Jul 20, 2023 8:57 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago
Annick Beauchemin says her commute time will nearly double and her transit fare will become more costly. (Sharon Yonan-Renold/CBC)
Annick Beauchemin calls herself a “true believer in public transport,” but by the end of month, her daily commute is about to get more complicated and more expensive, she says.
"I kind of feel abandoned, " Beauchemin said.
Right now, the Brossard resident takes an express bus from Montreal’s South Shore to her workplace in Old Montreal, all in 34 minutes. The quick bus commute is one of the reasons she moved to the city just south of Montreal, she says.
However, as of July 31, with long-awaited and delayed inauguration of the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) network, her commute will nearly double.
To top it off, she says her monthly transit fare of $108 will jump to $155 and she will have to use three different transit networks: a bus from the Réseau de transport de Longueuil (RTL), then a REM train to Gare Centrale Station followed by a Société de transport de Montréal (STM) bus.
That’s because with the opening of the REM, there will no longer be express buses bringing passengers from the South Shore to Montreal, and the REM station she would have gotten off at — Griffintown-Bernard Landry station — is still under construction until at least the end of 2024.
With the cancelling of express buses crossing the Champlain Bridge on July 31, some commuters who ride the bus to Montreal from the city’s South Shore told CBC they will spend more time in traffic. (Sharon Yonan-Renold/CBC)
“It’s not logical to me that they would just take away a service that we used to have, and that a lot of people use,” she said.
Other commuters who travel to Montreal from the South Shore are also voicing their concerns about longer transit times now that express lines are set to be abolished.
Nishant Kinger and his wife Kasturee Mulay ride the bus from Brossard to get to work in Griffintown during the week, a 35-minute commute on a regular day.
The couple were initially excited when the REM plans were announced for the South Shore, but they say they lost some of that excitement after hearing their bus lines would be discontinued at the end of the month.
Kinger says they will now have to take multiple buses instead of a single one, an unwelcome change, especially during the winter months.
“We don’t want to take the car out everyday for the two of us,” said Mulay. “Parking is super expensive, so we can’t really do that.”
She hopes transit authorities will reduce the frequency of the 42 and 90 buses rather than do away with them altogether — at least while construction on the Griffintown station is still underway.
Kasturee Mulay, left, and her husband, Nishant Kinger, right, say they will have to take multiple buses instead of a single bus to get to work from Brossard, Que. (Sharon Yonan-Renold/CBC)
Maxime Laliberté, who is responsible for public affairs at the RTL says he is confident the REM will allow most commuters to get to where they need to be more quickly.
Eight different bus lines currently cross the Champlain Bridge, and out of those, the two express bus lines — the 90 and 45 lines — will get the ax on July 31.
While Laliberté says he understands some are anxious to see express buses go, he says that unlike traveling by bus, commuters won’t have to worry about traffic or road conditions to get to their destination on time.
In a statement, Emmanuelle Rouillard-Moreau, communications officer with CDPQ-Infra told CBC the Griffintown station is being built in a “complex environment on the Viaduc Sud,” close to Via Rail, Exo and other railway trains pass through.
“We are currently conducting additional studies to establish optimal construction methods that are safe for workers,” said Rouillard-Moreau.
“The results of these studies will be available at the end of the year.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/rem-light-rail-bus-cancelled-1.6911739
