Completion of Montreal's new light-rail lines pushed to fall 2025
Testing will also mean existing REM to South Shore will be closed for several weeks next summer
The completion of the light-rail network linking Montreal's West Island and the North Shore to downtown has been pushed back yet again to the fall of 2025, the project's manager announced Thursday.
The Deux-Montagnes and Anse-à-l'Orme branches of the REM were originally expected to be finished in 2023.
CDPQ Infra, which is overseeing the project, said the complexity of the work in the Mont-Royal tunnel, which spans five kilometres, is a major reason for the delays.
Testing for the new branches will also mean service disruptions on the existing line from downtown Montreal to Brossard in the coming months.
Train service to the South Shore will be down during some weekends next January and February, then some weeknights in April. In the summer, the entire southern leg is expected to be closed for four to six weeks.
Bus service will be made available during the shutdowns.
CDPQ Infra said the total cost of the project is now $8.3 billion, up five per cent from last year. CDPQ Infra said it will bear the additional costs.
Jean-Marc Arbaud, CDPQ Infra's CEO and president, said the light-rail branches are nearing completion "despite exceptionally difficult construction conditions in the last few years."
"Our teams and partners have demonstrated a great amount of ingenuity and passion to keep moving forward despite the obstacles," Arbaud said in a statement.
Denis Martin, mayor of Deux-Montagnes, told Radio-Canada he's hopeful the trains will be running by the start of the school year.
"The start of the school year and the return from vacation, at the end of summer, are always a painful time," he said, adding that residents are excited about having more public transit options.
"Traffic is getting worse and worse."
On its South Shore line, CDPQ Infra said ridership reached a new high in September of 45,000 rides per day. Arbaud said he expects the reliability of the service will improve this winter, after some difficulties during the coldest months last year.