We will have to wait until 2027 before boarding the cars of the Metropolitan Express Network (REM) to make the connection between Montréal-Trudeau airport and downtown Montréal. This is therefore one of the reasons for the project, which will take the longest to materialize.
The Press had already revealed last May that the commissioning of the section would not take place at the end of 2024, as planned, because the airport station was going to be completed later than planned. On Wednesday, Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) as well as the Caisse de depot et placement du Québec (CDPQ) specified for how long it would take patience.
At Montréal-Trudeau airport, work began in mid-March. The consortium formed by AECON and EBC has completed nearly half of the excavation work, explained ADM officials during a site visit.
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PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
When the station is finished, REM cars will arrive by passing under the terminal.
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PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
It is necessary to dig about 35 meters underground as part of the work.
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PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
The workers are halfway there.
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PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Travelers who go to Montréal-Trudeau will see, from the landing stage, a large blue crane overlooking the construction site.
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PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
A little everywhere, solar panels supply sensors allowing to know if the walls of the building site move too much.
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PHOTO PROVIDED BY JODOIN LAMARRE PRATTE ARCHITECTES/SAUCIER PERROTTE ARCHITECTES
Overview of the airport station from the landing stage when it will be in service
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“We plan to hand over the station in 2026 so that the REM can carry out the securing work, the installation of the rails and the control systems,” explained Steeve Bouffard, project director for the airport station. We put it back in its entirety: the building, the elevators and the rest of the infrastructure. But we do not perform the commissioning. »
The airport station is the only one of the 26 stations that is not under the responsibility of NouvLR, a consortium retained by the CDPQ to build the REM. ADM – a non-profit organization that manages Montreal-Trudeau and Mirabel airports – is responsible for construction.
Bouffard hopes the construction phase will be completed in the “first half of 2026”. This is when NouvLR, the consortium retained by the CDPQ to build the REM, can take over. There will be a test phase before commissioning, explained Emmanuelle Rouillard-Moreau, spokeswoman for the Fund, in a statement.
“We expect the antenna to be commissioned in 2027,” she wrote, without further details on the timeline.
The Montréal-Trudeau station provides a space that will allow REM cars to leave in the opposite direction. Commissioning cannot be carried out by isolated station.
Much more expensive
The construction bill was estimated at 250 million in 2018. It has more than doubled to reach 600 million. Mr. Bouffard asserts that this budget should be respected. Quebec and Ottawa had to intervene in April 2021 to advance the money since ADM’s financial health had deteriorated greatly due to the travel restrictions that had been imposed around the world.
According to ADM’s director of corporate affairs and media relations, Anne-Sophie Hamel-Longtin, the turn of events is essentially attributable to the health crisis.
“The station project was part of something much bigger, to redo the parking lot and the drop-off area,” she explained.
When we had to put construction sites on hold, we had to redo the projects. We went back to tenders. All this caused a delay in the work.
Anne-Sophie Hamel-Longtin, Director of Corporate Affairs and Media Relations at ADM
This delay in commissioning the antenna could have consequences for the Technoparc Montréal, in the borough of Saint-Laurent. Located downstream from the airport, the future Marie-Curie station, called to serve the industrial park to high-tech sectors, will remain deprived of service as long as the airport station is not open.
Joined by The Pressthe mayor of the borough of Saint-Laurent, Alan DeSousa, was not aware of this new deadline.
“I can only say that this delay does not bode well,” he said in a telephone interview. It’s unfortunate because it affects the competitiveness of our industrial sectors, including the Technoparc. There are also a lot of things that can happen between now and 2027 that could cause further delays. This is not good news. »
There are 125 companies established in the Technoparc. They employ about 6,000 workers. In an email, Technoparc Montréal said it had no comment on the REM delays.
With the collaboration of André Dubuc, The Press
Learn more
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- 7 billions
- According to the latest news, this is what the REM will cost at the very least, which excludes the segment to the east.
Source: CDPQ below
- 35 meters
- The REM station at Montreal-Trudeau will be one of the deepest in the network, at 35 meters, behind Édouard-Montpetit, at 72 meters.
Source: Montreal Airports
