REM service suspended Friday morning between Bois-Franc and Gare Centrale stations for 4 hours

Service on the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) was halted Friday morning at 5:30 a.m. between the Bois-Franc and Gare Centrale stations due to a technical problem, the operator said. Around 9:30 a.m. the service resumed.

In an email, PULSAR, the REM’s operator, said that after a system update, teams detected a technical issue between the Du Ruisseau and Édouard-Montpetit stations.

“Since REM trains are automated, a system allows them to recognize the tracks ahead and several details essential to their operation, including the presence of other trains or objects. This feature was no longer available between Du Ruisseau and Edouard-Montpetit stations, which is why, as a safety measure, we decided not to serve these stations until the issue was resolved,” explained PULSAR.

In the morning, PULSAR said it immediately notified partners to activate a shuttle plan.

Shuttle buses were in place to move commuters through the affected stretch.

Teams were on-site to identify and fix the issue “as quickly as possible,” the operator said.

Officials did not specified the exact cause of the problem.

This is the second time in less than a month that there has been a major service disruption on this new line that officially began running on Nov. 17th. A day after it opened, a truck hit an overpass that the REM uses for its trains causing a disruption to service that morning. 

CityNews spoke with REM users who had mix feeling about the technical issues.

“To be honest, I think it’s kind of normal,” said Yvan Wilfried, REM user. “You know what, we started some new things. It is possible that it is not going to work as we thought, but I guess it is normal to be honest. So we’re just going to deal with it.”

“Yeah, I’m a bit disappointed that I might miss a class today because of the REM, but I’ll find a way to commute to school today,” said Rania Ammi, Montrealer. “Sometimes systems can fail to work, so obviously it’s a bit annoying because I have to get to class this morning, but I’ll deal with it.”

“I guess I’m kind of surprised,” said Saewon Park, Montrealer. “This is the first time that this happened to me since I started taking the REM, I guess, like a couple of weeks ago. So not good because I need to get to work right now.”

“Yes, it is something that I anticipated, but to be honest, like my other commute is over an hour and taking the REM is like 25 minutes,” said Saewon Park, Montrealer. So I was like, you know, the benefits still kind of outweigh the risks I get. So I was I was anticipating this.”

“Things happen and I get that these types of things can be difficult to maintain and to repair and all that, but it still is frustrating,” said Thomas, Montrealer. “You know, we waited years and years for this. It cost a lot of taxpayer money and I just hope that they can get it running in a bit more of a consistent way.”