After a lifetime of feeling cut off from the rest of Montreal, West Islanders believe those days are nearly over.
The Réseau express métropolitain (REM) is about to connect downtown Montreal to the West Island, with the network’s long-awaited Anse-à-l’Orme officially opening Monday.
The 14-kilometre extension adds four new stations – across Pointe-Claire, Kirkland and Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue. Riders will have a chance to experience it for free this weekend.
“I like the idea that you’ll be able to go from one end of the city to the other,” one West Islander told Montreal.
“If I want to go downtown or anything, it would be a good option to use it,” said another.
“On the weekend, Decarie is packed or closed. The 20 is closed. So, I think it’s amazing,” added a third.
“The population is continuously expanding so everyone’s moving outward, so this just makes it a little bit easier for everyone to get to where they need to go,” added yet another.
The four new stations – named Des Sources, Fairview–Pointe-Claire, Kirkland and Anse-à-l’Orme – will bring the total number of REM stations to 23.
It’s music to the ears of West Island’s mayors.
“There’s been a demand for the past 30 years asking for public transit on the West Island,” said John Belvedere, the mayor of Pointe-Claire.
“The West Island was not spoiled with public transportation,” said Michel Boudreault, the mayor of Sainte-Anne-De-Bellevue.
“Transportation has been very difficult in the West Island for a long time,” added Errol Johnson, the deputy mayor of Dollard-des-Ormeaux.
Johnson, who’s also the founder of the West Island Blues Fest, says the new stations will also mean it’s easier for other Montrealers to get to the West.
“Most of the people who come to the blues festival right now are from the West Island,” he said. “And that was a question of transportation.
“But with the REM, I can guarantee you it’s going to grow tremendously.”
The need for more public transit in the West Island is also increasing as the region’s economy continues to grow, according to the multiple mayors.
“Industrial sector, for years they were complaining about the lack of decent public transportation here,” said Boudreault.
“It’ll give access to people to come and work in our industrial park seven days a week, at nighttime and basically 20 hours a day,” added Belvedere.
But officials are also predicting that more transit will bring more traffic.
“The flow of the traffic around Fairview, around Des Sources station, that’s going to be the growing pains,” said Belvedere
There’s also the issue of parking.
Officials say the 200 spaces at Anse-à-l’Orme station likely won’t be enough during the morning rush.
“Probably at six o’clock, that parking will be full,” Boudreault speculated. “So people will come, it’s full, then they’ll go to the next station.”
When the REM first launched this winter, riders had to deal with frequent shutdowns due to issues linked with snow and ice.
And while experts aren’t expecting those problems to happen during the summer launch, they are expecting communication to be better.
“It is not acceptable that some riders are just not aware of a service interruption during about 20 minutes,” said Brian Nash, the public affairs and communications coordinator with Trajectoire Québec.
Since the launch of its first lines, the REM says ridership has grown to around 75,000 daily trips, with peak days nearing 100,000 riders.
Transit advocate Nash says the new branch will be a big step to making Montreal a more transit-accessible city, but he says public trust still needs rebuilding.
“There is a lack of confidence that has to be rebuilt between the riders and the REM,” he said.
