Mayor seeking extra REM station
‘The time to do it is now,’ he says, noting extra stop could ease traffic congestion
Dorval Mayor Edgar Rouleau says it would be a lost opportunity to build the new Réseau express métropolitain (REM) to Montreal’s Trudeau International Airport without extending it to the nearby VIA Rail train station.
Rouleau said the REM should add an extra station at the VIA Rail Station, located just north of Highway 20. He said a decision to build the extra station should be taken soon, while the REM is under construction.
“The time to do it is now,” Rouleau said. “Instead of stopping it at the airport, they just have to go a kilometre further. I don’t think it’s even a kilometre.”
Rouleau said the current REM light-rail plan doesn’t service commuters in many parts of the West Island, particular those living below Highway 20 who either drive, bus or take an EXO commuter train to work downtown.
“The REM doesn’t go to Lachine so people there could use it. It would be good for people in Dorval and Lachine, but also to west, including Pointe-Claire.”
Dorval serves as a traffic hub for all of Montreal, with Trudeau Airport, VIA Rail station and a bus terminal all located in close proximity of the congested Dorval Circle.
Rouleau said the Dorval Circle is a traffic nightmare most days.
“There are people going to the airport, others arriving at the VIA Rail station or the nearby bus station. There is so much traffic there, people will just decide to take their car and drive downtown.”
Even the head of the Aéroports de Montréal said it makes sense to extend the REM one more stop.
Phillipe Rainville said last month it “would be sad to miss this opportunity to provide an additional transit option for airport users.”
“The tunnel boring machine is there, you just have to extend it a little bit,” Rainville told La Presse.
The REM said it will examine an extension, but only after an official request is made.
“A technical and financial analysis will then be carried out and handed over to these authorities for decision-making.”
To drill the REM underground, yes, there is a cost. But the equipment and everything is there.
Rouleau said tunnelling the extra distance may be expensive, but it will be cheaper in the long run. “When you look at $250 million over 50 or 60 years, it’s nothing,” he said.
“To drill the REM underground, yes, there is a cost. But the equipment and everything is there.”
He said having the extra station will allow the REM airport station to better serve airport workers and passengers. “If you are the ADM, do you want 5,000 or 6,000 people a day in the airport that don’t belong there?” Rouleau asked.
“The airport is a high security area so having thousands of people just passing through there every day won’t help (security),” he said.
Anne- Sophie Hamel, vice president of public affairs for the ADM, said linking the airport to the train station via the REM is a sound idea.
“It’s a good way to have an interconnection between the different means of transportation surrounding the train station,” Hamel said.
“The REM will come from St. Laurent and go under the airport runways. We’re building the station 35 metres underground, under the multi-level parking.
“We think it’s an opportunity because when the tunnelling machine is there, just continue the link there, instead of closing everything and then doing it five, 10 or 15 years later,” she said. “For us it’s just a question seizing the opportunity.
“Also, for us there would be a better connection with the regions (outside Montreal). If you take someone who lives in Drummondville, for example, they take the VIA Rail train to the Dorval station. And then they could hop on the REM and be at the airport in just one station. “
Hamel said the REM will not only ferry passengers to the airport, it will also provide another mode of transportation for 13,000 airport employees who commute to the airport on a daily basis.
Hamel said the new light-rail station, set to open in 2023, will be built as part of a $2.5 billion upgrade of the existing airport structure, including a new multi-level parking facility.
“We’re building the station at the airport,” she noted.
“That is something that was important to us because we have users who have different characteristics than everyday users of the REM. We have people who travel so they have a lot of luggage. So we had to make sure the station was well-adapted for passengers.”
Hamel said the Montreal-Trudeau International Airport is on pace to handle a record 19 million passengers in 2018.
Rouleau said a new station would also help alleviate traffic flow through the West Island and Montreal.
“More people will use the REM to go downtown if they add the extra station,” he said.