Despite all the hype and hoopla with Montreal’s new REM light metro, the first day’s service was a shambles.
A stuck switch, on opening day? This is a bad omen for the light metro system.
With an at-grade tram or light rail, a stuck switch can be operated manually, but on a fully automatic and driverless light metro no, a stuck switch cannot be operated manually.
There many reasons driverless light metro systems have lost favour with planners, who instead opt for tram/LRT instead, but one is the lack of flexibility in operation if a minor problem occurs, such as a stuck switch.
The following quote from the article is telling:
“Before the REM, Leger said she took the bus into the city and it usually took about an hour. With the REM operating, and running smoothly, she estimated that it would take her about the same amount of time.
But the buses, she said, rarely had technical problems. She hoped the REM’s shutdown on Monday wouldn’t become a frequent occurrence.”
For all the billions of dollars spent, REM is seems to be not giving the transit customer a better service, just the same, but more expensive to use and that is definitely not user-friendly.
The Réseau express métropolitain, Montreal’s newest mass-transit system, ground to a halt in both directions during its first rush-hour commute on Monday — twice — forcing passengers to get off the trains and triggering the service’s emergency backup plan.
Shortly after 9 a.m., service resumed in both directions.
The southern branch of the REM, which links Brossard on the South Shore to downtown Montreal, was inaugurated on Friday. Tens of thousands of Montrealers tested out the new trains on Saturday and Sunday, when the rides were free.
But on Monday, just before 8 a.m., the driverless trains stopped running, and a message relayed to commuters on loudspeakers said the delay was due to a “technical problem.”
Several trains at a standstill could be seen on the tracks near the Champlain Bridge.
Commuters on Montreal’s South Shore lined up for shuttle buses. (Fanny Samson/Radio-Canada)
Riders were told the delay would last approximately 20 minutes.
Service began gradually resuming after 15 minutes, but the kinks were not fully ironed out and passengers in some trains were forced to disembark.
Jean-Vincent Lacroix, a spokesperson for CDPQ Infra, which developed the REM and is a subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, said the issue was caused by a railway switch that got stuck, preventing trains from changing tracks.
The REM shut down for a second time Monday night due to a similar issue. At 11 p.m., service halted for approximately an hour. Users were directed to shuttle buses.
Technical teams are investigating the issue, a REM spokesperson said.
On Monday morning, Lacroix says service was shut down between the Gare Centrale station in downtown Montreal and the Panama station between about 8 and 8:30 a.m. During that time, buses from the branch’s southern terminus, the Brossard station, kept running, bringing riders to Panama where they had to get off and wait for shuttle buses to head into Montreal.
Between 8:30 and about 9:15 a.m., however, the entire REM branch was shut down.
“We were ready, so we worked closely with the CDPQ,” said Maxime Laliberté, who is is responsible for public affairs at the Réseau de transport de Longueuil (RTL).
“So we launched 20 buses to go to all the stations … going to downtown Montreal back and forth to transport everyone who was on the REM,” he said.
Dozens of people wait for a REM train at Brossard station on Saturday, July 29, 2023. The REM was free to ride over the weekend of July 29-30, and officials say more than 120,000 people rode the new transit line. (Aloysius Wong/CBC)
‘Adjustments to be made’
When the service shut down, one of the top priorities was making sure trains that were stranded could get to the nearest station.
Lacroix said trains near the Champlain Bridge made it to the closest station in Montreal: Îles-des-Soeurs.
He described the REM’s first rush-hour run as a “big test.”
WATCH | What happened to the REM?
First rush-hour for the REM hits some roablocks
1 day ago
Duration 1:19
Montreal’s new light-rail train system’s first weekday trip did not go without a hitch. An issue with a rail switch caused trains to stop, forcing passengers on several trains to exit and take shuttle buses from Brossard into downtown Montreal instead.
“Everywhere around the world, when you put in a new service of this magnitude like that, there’s always some adjustments to be made,” the spokesperson said.
“The only thing we can say to the people is that we’re working hard. We’re going to make sure to limit that kind of situation.”
Lacroix stressed that the REM system ran smoothly on Saturday and Sunday.
Meredith Alousi-Jones, a research assistant at Transportation Research at McGill (TRAM), says the popularity of the weekend may have contributed to this morning’s issues.
“They were prepared for excitement and for a lot of people, but in terms of the infrastructure and the service, it’s not the usual pattern that they are going to get on a regular service day,” she said. “So it might not be as much of an issue with the days going forward.”
‘I just wanted to get home’
Mahan Mansoor arrived at the Gare Centrale station Monday morning hoping to ride the REM home to Brossard, but shortly after he boarded, he was told to get off and wait to be shuttled by bus to Panama station.
“Somebody came in and told us that there were a lot of technical problems,” he said. “It was a bit confusing; I just wanted to get home.”
Charlotte Leger, a commuter from Candiac who took the REM over the weekend while it was free, arrived at the Brossard station Monday morning only to learn that the trains were running late.
But she took the news with philosophical calm.
“It can happen,” she said. “We knew that something could happen. They always say that everything will be alright but you never know.”
REM trains, seen here frozen on the tracks in Brossard, were immobilized on Monday, July 31, 2023. It’s the first full day of service for the long-awaited network. (Ivanoh Demers/Radio-Canada)
Before the REM, Leger said she took the bus into the city and it usually took about an hour. With the REM operating, and running smoothly, she estimated that it would take her about the same amount of time.
But the buses, she said, rarely had technical problems. She hoped the REM’s shutdown on Monday wouldn’t become a frequent occurrence.
That’s interesting, early yesterday afternoon they were reporting that the stuck turnout (switch) had also caused the line’s ATO to temporarily shutdown. I don’t know if that’s a preprogrammed defensive measures given the turnout issue or a separate problem.
Zwei replies: It is my belief that when there is a track issue, the trains shut down and a attendant must walk along the guideway to drive the train manually until it reaches the next station, where the system is rebooted.
“There’s no risk to take, I did not take the REM to come to the office.”
(Michael Sabia, who initiated the REM while he was heading CDPQ, is now taking charge of Hydro Quebec. The REM suffered two “pannes” (breakdowns) on July 31, it’s first official day of operation.
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That’s interesting, early yesterday afternoon they were reporting that the stuck turnout (switch) had also caused the line’s ATO to temporarily shutdown. I don’t know if that’s a preprogrammed defensive measures given the turnout issue or a separate problem.
Zwei replies: It is my belief that when there is a track issue, the trains shut down and a attendant must walk along the guideway to drive the train manually until it reaches the next station, where the system is rebooted.
We got this quote from our side of the pond.
“There’s no risk to take, I did not take the REM to come to the office.”
(Michael Sabia, who initiated the REM while he was heading CDPQ, is now taking charge of Hydro Quebec. The REM suffered two “pannes” (breakdowns) on July 31, it’s first official day of operation.