REM CLARIFIES FUTURE OF VAUDREUIL–HUDSON LINE
Despite reports of a proposed non-compete clause or an “integration agreement” for the Réseau express métropolitain (REM), it seems the existing Vaudreuil–Hudson commuter train line serving the West Island along Highway 20 will be maintained, as previously promised.
While news of a working document being prepared by the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM) for REM monopoly zones drew derision from some quarters, CDPQ Infra, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec subsidiary heading the project, reiterated that the Vaudreuil–Hudson line is not going be scuttled after the opening of REM stations along Highway 40 in Kirkland, Pointe-Claire and Ste-Anne-deBellevue.
The REM will also serve the West Island with a station at the airport in Dorval as well as two stations, Pierrefonds and Sunnybrooke, as part of the DeuxMontagnes leg.
“There is no impact on the Vaudreuil-Hudson commuter train line or even its development in the future,” CDPQ spokesperson Jean-Vincent Lacroix said in a phone interview with the West Island Gazette.
“The goal of this integration agreement (non-compete clause) is to make sure the REM is part of the global vision of the ARTM.”
Transit partners such as the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) and the Réseau de transport métropolitain (RTM) will also be part of ARTM’s vision, Lacroix said.
“So the goal is to make sure that all these networks are working in a complementary way,” he added.
The zones around the REM stations will have buses linking to them. Any existing bus routes that service areas near the new light-rail network could be deployed elsewhere to avoid any duplication of services, Lacroix said.
For West Islanders heading downtown, the REM, with its dedicated train line, will provide faster and more efficient service than some existing buses routes, Lacroix said.
“The goal is to make sure you don’t have buses running next to the REM, to make sure all the networks are working in a complementary way instead of doing the same service,” he said.
On the rem.info website launched last month, a section dedicated to the West Island states that the existing Vaudreuil–Hudson line will continue to operate even after the REM is launched and that its users will be able to continue taking this train to travel downtown.
The REM, a $6.3-billion project with 26 stations covering 67 kilometres, is scheduled to be ready for its first passengers in 2021. Construction is to start in April, although precise dates for work on the West Island stations are still being finalized.
Since the REM will connect the West Island, downtown Montreal, the North Shore and the South Shore, construction will start in different areas at different times, Lacroix said.
“But there will be action in the West Island this year, of course,” he noted.
Beaconsfield Mayor Georges Bourelle and Ste-Anne-deBellevue Mayor Paola Hawa both said it makes sense to establish bus links to the local REM stations and for some existing STM routes to be altered to improve commuter service across the West Island.
While stressing that maintaining the Vaudreuil–Hudson line along Highway 20 is essential, neither mayor expressed concerns over any REM noncompete clause. They both criticized a recent Parti Québécois transit counterproposal. The PQ announced that if it formed the government after the provincial election this fall, it would scrap the REM project.
“The existing REM (project) is the best thing that can happen to the West Island,” Bourelle said. “It’s never going to be perfect. There are going to be issues as it gets developed ... But the Caisse is there to make it work. To make sure it gets a proper return ... for Quebec taxpayers and citizens. So if there are adjustments that need to be made as they go along to improve the service, frequency, whatever, I am quite confident they will make (the required) adjustments.”