Free REM preview weekend begins Saturday ahead of West Island line opening

Montrealers will get their first chance this weekend to ride the REM’s new West Island branch before it officially opens to the public Monday.

The Réseau express métropolitain (REM) is offering free service Saturday and Sunday on its new Anse-à-l’Orme extension ahead of the line’s official launch on May 18.

The 14-kilometre expansion adds four new stations to the network, Des Sources, Fairview–Pointe-Claire, Kirkland and Anse-à-l’Orme, extending REM service deeper into Montreal’s West Island.

“We will offer 20 hours-a-day operation, more than 80 passages of trains from 5:30 in the morning to 1:30 at night,” said Carl Corbel, director of REM operations at CDPQ Infra.

Corbel said commuters travelling from the West Island to downtown Montreal will be able to make the trip in roughly 35 minutes.

The launch also comes as REM ridership reaches a new all-time high. Transit officials say the network recorded 104,000 trips Tuesday.

The REM said says average daily ridership currently sits around 78,000 passengers, but officials expect that number to climb to 150,000 daily trips once the airport branch opens.

Free preview rides will be available between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. on May 16 and 17 at the four new stations only. Regular fares will still apply elsewhere on the REM network.

REM officials are expecting heavy crowds throughout the weekend and say bicycles and pets will not be permitted onboard during the preview period.

Staff will also be stationed along the route to help visitors navigate the new stations and services.

After a winter marked by repeated service interruption linked to snow and ice, REM officials say service availability across the network now sits at 99 per cent.

Corbel said the system is equipped with contingency measures in the event of breakdowns or trains stopping on the tracks.

“The control centre will immediately know something is not right,” he said. “It will dispatch staff that are already pre-positioned along the line and they will take care of the passengers within 20 minutes.”

The STM says a shuttle bus will run every 10 minutes between the original Fairview–Pointe-Claire bus terminal and the new REM station during the weekend.

Once service officially launches Monday, the REM network will expand to 23 stations and 64 kilometres of track, reaching nearly 10 additional municipalities and boroughs across the Greater Montreal area.

The transit network says ridership has continued to climb since the initial REM lines opened, averaging about 75,000 daily trips, with peak days nearing 100,000 riders.

Concerns linked to parking

Officials say the new branch includes roughly 1,200 parking spaces in total, including 300 new spaces recently added near the Fairview–Pointe-Claire station through a partnership with Fairview Mall.

That has raised concerns about whether parking capacity around the new stations will be enough once service begins.

“A system like the REM cannot rely only on parking cars,” said Julien Hurel, vice-president of REM at CDPQ Infra.

“We encourage, of course, people to use public transport in order to remain sustainable,” he added.

REM officials also say they are encouraging commuters to use alternative ways of reaching stations, including bus connections, cycling infrastructure, BIXI and Communauto partnerships.

Still, Pointe-Claire Mayor John Belvedere said he is concerned the additional parking will not be enough.

“Are we worried? Absolutely,” Belvedere told CityNews.

He said the city is preparing for possible parking spillover into nearby residential neighbourhoods behind the Fairview–Pointe-Claire station and has already implemented permit-only parking restrictions in some areas.

But Belvedere said the city is limited in what it can do because it does not own land near the station for future parking expansion.

“My fear is that people will just avoid using the REM,” he said. “If we want to make the REM work, we have to make sure that we can get people there easy.”