STM, Couillard discuss ordering Azur métro cars
Move could help save 600 jobs at Bombardier’s plant in La Pocatière
The Quebec government might step in to help save jobs at Bombardier’s transportation plant in La Pocatière with an order of more Azur métro cars for Montreal, Premier Philippe Couillard suggested on Friday.
Speaking to reporters while on a mission in Washington, Couillard called such a move a “very interesting hypothesis.”
He also confirmed that discussions are underway to place an order of Azur cars for the Société de transport de Montréal and that he has discussed it with Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante.
The La Pocatière plant already assembles the Azur cars for the Montreal métro system, and another order of 2,036 cars could be placed to avoid layoffs at the Bombardier plant.
While the replacement of the nearly half-century-old fleet of M-73 métro cars was always on the STM’s agenda, the costs involved were such that the transit authority elected to reduce the size of its original order and extend the life of its M-73s by 20 years.
The proposed rescue of the Bombardier plant comes after the firm’s bid to construct rolling stock for the Caisse de dépôt’s $6.3-billion electric commuter train network (REM) was rejected and the $630-million contract given to competitor Alstom, Bombardier’s chief rival, which is based in France.
That failed bid jeopardizes as many as half of the 600 jobs at the La Pocatière plant.
Couillard has been under fire from the opposition for not having insisted on a minimum of Quebec content for the REM contract.
The STM confirmed on Friday it has been approached by the provincial government concerning a plan to increase the size of its fleet of new generation métro cars.
“We regularly communicate with the (Quebec) government to examine ways to improve service. In that context, a request was made recently concerning the opportunity to include new Azur cars,” STM spokesperson Isabelle Tremblay said in an email to the Montreal Gazette earlier in the day. “We are, for the moment, in the process of analyzing the impacts of such a request.”