As shuttle bus service ends, transit agency says REM can be trusted

3 hour_ago 2

Montreal·New

The shuttle buses that person been moving parallel to the REM since February stopped operating connected Monday. The determination transit bureau and the REM's developer accidental they're assured the light-rail bid work tin beryllium trusted.

Shuttle buses were enactment successful spot successful February owed to the REM's unreliability

CBC News

· Posted: May 04, 2025 5:21 PM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

As of Monday, radical commuting betwixt downtown Montreal and the South Shore volition nary longer person entree to shuttle buses arsenic a program B — and the radical down the REM accidental you tin spot that the light-rail bid work volition tally smoothly from present on.

Since February, the transit readying bureau for the greater Montreal area, known by its French acronym ARTM, had arranged for shuttle buses to tally parallel to the REM owed to recurring method problems with the light-rail bid that caused galore delays for commuters.

During that time, some the ARTM and the CDPQ Infra — the subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec that developed the REM — acknowledged that shuttle buses were a indispensable backup program due to the fact that trains had go excessively unreliable.

"Satisfying levels of stableness and show implicit the past fewer weeks let america to efficiently conscionable the users' needs," the ARTM wrote successful a connection this past weekend.

Jean-Marc Arbaud, the president and CEO of CDPQ Infra, echoed those sentiments, adding that the REM work has go much predictable successful caller weeks.

The shuttle buses were operated by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) and the Réseau de Transport de Longueuil (RTL).

Here are the 3 shuttle buses that volition nary longer run:

Shuttle autobus 722 (RTL) betwixt the Panama presumption and the Central Station successful downtown Montreal.
Shuttle autobus 721 (STL) between the Brossard presumption and the Central Station.
Shuttle autobus 568 (STL) betwixt the Île-des-Soeurs presumption and the Central Station.

The REM's changeless work issues drew the ire of riders arsenic good arsenic Doreen Asaad, the politician of Brossard.

In February, she called for autobus lines 45 and 90 to beryllium permanently re-established. The 2 lines transported riders over the Champlain Bridge to Montreal earlier the REM's non-compete clause axed them.

Due to enactment connected the REM's network, the work hours betwixt downtown Montreal and the South Shore are restricted. Trains runs betwixt 5:30 a.m. and astir 8:40 p.m., depending connected the direction. The REM is unopen down connected weekends.

Shuttle buses volition stay disposable aft 8:40 p.m. connected weekdays and connected weekends. And the ARTM promises that the shuttle work volition instrumentality erstwhile enactment is planned connected the light-rail bid network.

WATCH | Here's what Brossard's politician said astir the REM in February:

Issues with Montreal's light-rail strategy propulsion Brossard, Que., politician to suggest solutions

Doreen Assaad is calling for the instrumentality of autobus lines connecting the South Shore municipality to downtown Montreal until the REM is much reliable.

Written by Antoni Nerestant with files from Radio-Canada

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