The Montreal Metro and REM Trains

The REM vs. Reality: Does Montreal's new train meet expectations? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq1xpxOt7FM

Montreal’s New (REM) Rail Line Is the Future

 https://macleans.ca/society/montreals-new-rail-line-is-the-future/ 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Paris_Express , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88nkbjsLbI8

Formation	Line 4: 6 cars per trainset Line 11: 5 cars per trainset Line 14: 8 cars per trainset
Capacity	932 per train (8 cars set)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP_14_(Paris_Metro) 

Train length	8-car set: 120 m (393 ft 8 in) 6-car set: 90 m (295 ft 3 in) 5-car set: 75 m (246 ft 1 in)
Car length	15.04 m (49 ft 4 in)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Paris_Express#Rolling_stock 

A regional express train system is essential for any major urban area.

Why Paris is Doubling the Size of its Metro 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9oDwTNUXP0

Airport Rail Links

The Transit Every Airport Needs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YeVZVluQWI&t=247s 

https://www.upexpress.com/en/about-up/things-are-looking-up Its only a two and three car train, when it should be between 4-6 cars, depending upon the time of day. https://www.torontopearson.com/en/transportation-and-parking/up-express

At least it's not a perpetual 2 car train joke that is the YVR-Canada Line. The eventual airport REM line should consist of 4 car trains, but the entire REM should eventually have 6 car trains.

Somehow, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane & Perth all are able to have longer trains to the airport. The 10 car SFO-BART trains are pretty cool.

Some Canada Mega-projects Under Construction

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwsOVZ-j7hg 

Oakridge_Park is on a much smaller scale than Metrotown, Brentwood and Lougheed. It will especially be on a much smaller scale than Parramatta in NSW. 

Unfortunatly, the Oakridge-41st_Avenue_station was only designed to have 50m platforms, when it should have been at least 100m. Thus, the utter foolishness has meant that instead of allowing for a future level station clearance to accomodate 5 car trains, the Canada (embassament) Line was only designed to just have 2.5 car trains. While its extremely short stations might have been disguised as a cost saving measurer, there didn't seem to be any key people onboard to make sure that it could eventually become a proper big city train line. Its sad that a line which opened in 2009 is still only running 2 car trains. While the 2.5 car configuration is still a joke of a train, at least half of an extra coach-length is better than nothing. Plus, there should have been extra cars ordered by now so at least during the very busy times the trains could be operating at 1 minute headways. Unfortunatly, this goes against the Vancouver & BC congestion planning mentality.

Despite being built several years after the Sydney_Harbour_Bridge, the joke that is the Pattullo_Bridge was designed to only have 4 narrow lanes & only 1 sidewalk. Of course the replacement_bridge will only open with 2 lanes each way. It was as if someone really wanted to make sure that there won't be 2 bus lanes and no HOV lanes when the bridge opens. While the new bridge is designed to be expanded from a 4 lane joke to eventually having 6 lanes, it still won't be wide enough to accomodate 2 HOV lanes as well as 2 bus lanes. Of course the new bridge won't have any emergency lanes, just like the old bridge. However, it will have 2 bike lanes and 2 sidewalks. https://www.globalhighways.com/news/pattullo-bridge-completion-end-year Its only fitting that in backwards BC this new bridge wouldn't be designed to eventually have a lower deck to accomodate 2 bus lanes and 2 LRT tracks. 

If the planners were afraid to symbolically have a wide bridge between NW and Surrey, the old Pattullo_Bridge should have been designed to eventually have a lower deck for trams, trucks and busses. Even when the SkyBridge between NW and Surrey opened in 1990, it wasn't designed to have any bus lanes or emergency vehicle lanes and especially, no bike and footpaths. 

Is Vancouver the best city in North America? (2019) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8dmVUrNt38

 One of the biggest mistakes in Vancouver & SW BC is to have short trains combined with mostly narrow bridges. Thus, the region doesn't get to have long, high capacity trains and there isn't a proper regional network of bus-bridges. The refusal to twin most of the bridges means that it's almost impossible to have a proper and efficient regional network of rapid-bus and HOV lanes.  

While Montreal built the REM to augment their long-train Metro system, Vancouver should have allowed for enough clearance to eventually have 500 foot long trains. 80m-50m Skytrain stations are going to become inadequate, when there should have been a 152.4m provision so that the trains could eventually become as long as the ones on the Montreal Metro. 

Is Regional Rail in the Future of British Columbia? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PeIOVy6fFc

Montreal’s Biggest REM Expansion

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G1oeIAfxDU  

New REM metro line to Deux-Montagnes in Montreal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Oq-9kkZba8

Montreal's Metro Is Great...But Could Be Better https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQQWM87alMY  

Evolution of the Montreal Metro & REM 1966-2030 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zvOk2t1EpE

Montréal's REM Main Line

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgPICHuJvPg  

Elevated Trains Are Good, Actually https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5PieqjOuzA

Montreal, REM

 https://publish.reddit.com/embed?url=https://www.reddit.com/r/skyscrapers/comments/1ntjxzd/montreal_canada/

REM Train in Montreal

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlHqqA0onn0

Montreal-Trudeau International Airport to undergo $10-billion expansion

 https://dailyhive.com/montreal/montreal-trudeau-international-airport-yul-expansion-rem-train  

https://www.admtl.com/en-CA/corporate/about-us/future-projects 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YUL%E2%80%93A%C3%A9roport-Montr%C3%A9al%E2%80%93Trudeau_station

https://www.admtl.com/en-CA/parking-and-transport/roadworks  

https://www.timeout.com/montreal/news/montreal-trudeau-airport-is-heading-into-major-construction-and-its-going-to-get-messy-061325

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/yul-trudeau-airport-10-billion-transformation-1.7586489 

Eventually, the Pierre+Elliott+Trudeau+International+Airport could have 3 long runways. Fortunately, there is enough clearance to lengthen the shortest runway.

https://www.admtl.com/en-CA/community/soundscape-management/construction-on-runways-and-taxiways  

Orly_Airport has 3 runways.

Sea-Tac also has 3 runways, but are all parallel. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle-Tacoma_International_Airport 

Heathrow_Airport has 2 very long runways.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathrow_Airport#Future_expansion_and_plans  

Charles_de_Gaulle_Airport has 2 very long runways, plus 2 of moderate length. 

New gates at the Montreal Trudeau airport probably won’t have ‘significant’ environmental impact

 https://www.montrealgazette.com/news/article1084656.html

Handling of environmental-impact consultation for Trudeau airport expansion is ‘scandalous,’ activist says https://www.montrealgazette.com/news/article1058167.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9seau_express_m%C3%A9tropolitain#Stations

https://rem.info/en/airport , https://rem.info/en/map  

https://rem.info/en/travelling/stations/yul-aeroport-montreal-trudeau Length of each platform: 80 m

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9seau_express_m%C3%A9tropolitain#YUL%E2%80%93Montr%C3%A9al%E2%80%93Trudeau_Airport_branch

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/montreal-rem-vancouver-skytrain-comparison Montreal built a Metro with 152.5 m stations & a commuter rail system, then eventually the REM. 

Vancouver & BC should have designed the SkyTrain to initially have all of its stations at 100 m with the capability to be expanded to at least 155 m. Unfortunatly, the first 2 lines only have 80 m stations & the YVR-Canada-Line only has 50 m stations. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_rail_transit_in_Canada#Existing_systems

TransLink to extend North Shore RapidBus route to Metrotown starting in 2027

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/r2-rapidbus-north-shore-metrotown-burnaby-route-extension

https://aquilinidevelopment.com/community/kwasen-village

https://kwasenvillage.com 

The Kwasen Village & BCIT area is becoming a new intersection of housing & shopping, as well as education. So, hopefully starting in 2027, there will be an express bus from Metrotown_to_West-Vancouver. It will run along Willingdon Avenue providing a rapid bus link between Metrotown and Brentwood-Town-Centre-Station. Then onto N.Vancouver & W.Vancouver. This is being done, because backwards Vancouver refuses to build a rapid bus tunnel under or near the absurd, 3 lane Lions_Gate Bridge. Plus, the BC Government isn't interested in extending the SkyTrain on a bridge or through a tunnel to W.Vancouver. Thus, the inept, 3 lane Lions-Gate-Bridge remains as one of the worst bottlenecks or chokepoints in the world. 

Perth, WA built a 10 lane bridge with double train tracks in the middle of it.

https://www.skyperth.com/digitalstockfiles/train-over-the-narrows-bridge 3 sections. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Narrows_Bridge_from_QV.1.jpg Two 5 lane sections and a double track middle section. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xNv6nNKaRI

Seattle, WA did something similar, but their 3 section bridge or crossing has 4 lanes each way & a double track middle section.

https://www.mi-reporter.com/news/sound-transit-begins-light-rail-testing-across-i-90 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=felRTAG5MWc 

Montreal also did something similar to Seattle & Perth.

https://rem.info/en/albums/first-trip-across-samuel-de-champlain-bridge-july-2022 A 3 section bridge with 4 lanes each way. https://www.systra.com/en/news/the-samuel-de-champlain-bridge-in-canada-opens-to-train-traffic Plus, a middle section with 2 tracks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkZDtKKQ_e0 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9O6RzsXIqQ 

Being from backwards Vancouver & backwater BC, it's always amazing to see what other places can do, simply because they aren't in BC.

Fortunately, Perth, Seattle & Montreal don't have to contend with anything like the inept Vancouver & BC transportation mentality. It's mindboggeling that in 2025, Vancouver is still only running 4 car trains to Surrey & only 2 car trains to Coquitlam & Richmond. This, combined with several narrow bridges, makes it one of the most congested cities in the world. It's a sad & pathetic situation, because things in BC should be designed for proper future capacity expansion.

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Metrotown-North+Shore+Rapid+Transit+route

The Mount Royal Tunnel in Montreal

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Royal_Tunnel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Royal_Tunnel#REM

https://rem.info/en/news/first-passage-rem-through-mount-royal-tunnel-and-start-dynamic-testing-area

https://www.montrealgazette.com/news/article144286.html

Even the REM train stations should be expandable to eventually accomodate 6-8 car trains.

The Dunsmuir_Tunnel was rebuilt to become a double deck tunnel providing a split_platform station configuration. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split_platform#North_America

Unfortunatly, the Burrard_station & Granville_station platforms were only built to be 80m, when they should have been 155m-160m. This would have helped to eventually have 9 car SkyTrains, just like 9 car Montreal Metro trains. 

With proper long-range planning in mind, the SkyTrain should have been planned to eventually be a double length LRT system. Instead, its been challenging enough just to establish 5 car trains on the first 2 lines.

Unfortunatly, the 3rd line or Canada_Line was built to only have 50m, whereas the Montreal Metro has 152.5m long stations.

The Canada_Line_Stations have platforms that are only 50 metres (160 ft) long, when all the stations should have been built with a future clearance of 160m. That would have allowed for a future provision to eventually accommodate at least 8 car trains at each station.

Montreal has completed 5% of snow-loading operation, as city braces for winds and chilly temps

 https://montreal.citynews.ca/2025/02/18/winds-to-intensify-montreal/

https://montreal.citynews.ca/2025/02/18/rem-service-disruptions-continue Montreals version of the Skytrain should have a snow-plough at both ends of each train.

https://montreal.citynews.ca/2025/02/18/exo-trains-cancelled-snow-accumulation Even for the big trains, at a certain point a snow-plough might not be able to properly clear the tracks.

https://montreal.citynews.ca/2025/02/18/montreal-snow-disabled-mobility-challenges/

https://montreal.citynews.ca/2025/02/17/snow-piling-up-montreal-clearing-loading/

REM’s snow struggles persist in Montreal

 https://www.montrealgazette.com/news/article760907.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reseau_express_metropolitain

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alstom_Metropolis_Saint-Laurent

Train length	38.1 m (125 ft) per unit
Car length	19.05 m (62 ft 6 in) over coupler faces

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alstom_Metropolis_Saint-Laurent#Design_and_construction Two 125 foot trains = 250 feet, or half the length of a 9 car Metro train.

An 8 car [19.05 m (62 ft 6 inch)] REM train version of this would be great for Vancouver, but an improved Skytrain could be just as good. Unfortunatly, BC has a tough time thinking big for the future.

https://montreal.citynews.ca/2025/02/18/rem-service-disruptions-continue/

However, any elevated line or exposed rapid transit train in Montreal, is always potentially disrupted during the winter.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-rem-out-of-service-1.7461000

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9seau_express_m%C3%A9tropolitain#Future_sections

The genius of the Montreal_Metro trains is that they are all underground.

https://montreal.citynews.ca/2025/02/17/stormy-weather-continues-in-montreal/

Vancouver & BC always have a difficult time in properly planning & building infrastructure for significant future capacity. Thus, just because the SkyTrain is considered to be a Light Rail Vehicle, it still should have been designed to eventually have (152.5m) long trains, like the Montreal Metro has. If you are visiting from Montreal or Toronto, you will be shocked as to how short the Vancouver SkyTrains & stations are. 

It's not that BC is in some kind of a timewarp, it's just that there has been some kind of a strange multigenerational mentality or agenda. Since the BC part of Canada doesn't have the authority or the technology to generate a force_field around its perimeter, the next best thing was to have very restrictive laws. That's especially the case for Vancouver & Victoria. Plus, a general encouragement to symbolically think small & backwards. 

Having short trains, narrow bridges & mostly short buildings, all fits in with the symbolism of a reluctance to accommodate significant urban growth. Canada it self is also part of this larger predicament. Despite its size, Canada is nowhere close to containing even just 1% of the worlds population. Given that most of the human population is non-white, this poses an interesting dilemma. 

Of course during tougher economic times, immigration is generally frowned upon. However, even during various economic boom-times, Vancouver & Victoria continued to lag behind with the scale of its infrastructure development.

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=REM+Train

Service interrupted on Metro's green line, REM back to normal

 https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/public-transit-troubles-service-interrupted-on-metro-s-green-line-rem-back-to-normal-1.7094960

Unlike BC, at least Montreal has a good level of infrastructure, when its working.

https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/metros-green-line-service-interrupted-again-because-of-water-infiltration

https://montreal.citynews.ca/2024/11/01/service-green-line-montreal-metro/

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Bonaventure/@45.4985644,-73.5665737,693m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m15!1m8!3m7!1s0x4cc91a541c64b70d:0x654e3138211fefef!2sMontreal,+QC!3b1!8m2!3d45.5018869!4d-73.5673919!16zL20vMDUycDc!3m5!1s0x4cc91a5d23cb7eb9:0x8cce01ab91b1d89d!8m2!3d45.4980335!4d-73.5668115!16zL20vMDRzNzRu!5m1!1e2?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTAyOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

https://www.google.com/maps/place/REM+%C3%8ELE-DES-SOEURS+Station/@45.4703096,-73.5380778,127m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m15!1m8!3m7!1s0x4cc91a541c64b70d:0x654e3138211fefef!2sMontreal,+QC!3b1!8m2!3d45.5018869!4d-73.5673919!16zL20vMDUycDc!3m5!1s0x4cc911564250dde1:0x6e42f617ef20d4a4!8m2!3d45.4703598!4d-73.5384674!16s%2Fg%2F11t9lr6r37!5m1!1e2?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTAyOS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=REM+Train

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Montreal

Montreal BRT vs. Vancouver

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie-IX_BRT

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie-IX_BRT#Future_plans

https://www.stm.info/en/about/major_projects/major-bus-projects/pie-ix-brt

An express bus route is already good, but BRT is even better.

https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/new-design-puts-rem-bus-rapid-transit-corridor-on-montreal-transit-map

https://www.mtlblog.com/montreal/montreals-new-pie-ix-rapid-transit-route-is-finally-opening-heres-where-you-can-go Slow to being implamented, but not as slow as Vancouver, BC. 

https://www.masstransitmag.com/bus/article/21286422/greater-montreals-pieix-brt-begins-operations

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/pieix-rapid-bus-transit-inaugurated-1.6639291 Unlike Montreal, the Vancouver approach is quite a sad joke. Unless Vancouver improves its bridges or at least allows some bus bridges to be built, it will remain as the quintessential example of what not to do.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal#Transportation

bus 

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=BRT

REM trains in Montreal

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiTS6RYr_Vw , https://www.youtube.com/@ReseauexpressmetropolitainREM/videos

Le REM, un nouveau trait d’union https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEu817iPBws

A Ride on the Montreal REM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q23mkh8rX88, https://www.youtube.com/@RMTransit/videos

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=REM+Train

Montreal Metro

 https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/montreal-metro

It would have been total chaos if the Montreal_Metro (MM) only had 80m stations, just like on the first 2 SkyTrain lines. An absolute disaster if it only had 50m stations like on the very underbuilt Canada Line. Unfortunatly, Vancouver took the watered down approach, decades after what Montreal did right.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Metro#Rolling_stock

When starting in the 1960s, the MM could have 3 & 6 car trains and a 9 car train during busy times, in recent decades, it's just 6 and 9 car trains.

Streetcars and trams, along with buses, can help any Metro train or Subway system. Unlike Montreal and Vancouver, cities like Melbourne, Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, SF and New Orleans, retained some of their tram or streetcar lines.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPM-10 

9 articulated cars per train

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPM-10#Specifications

Of course a good urban transportation network keeps evolving and the REM trains are a nice addition. The REM trains should eventually be at least as long as those on the Sydney Subway.

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Montreal+Metro

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=REM+Train

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Montreal

The Montreal-light-rail-line REM and Samuel-De Champlain Bridge

 https://www.planetizen.com/news/2023/08/124945-new-rem-light-rail-launches-montreal

As long as the trains can eventually become double the length, then Montreal can avoid a Vancouver type delema.

https://rem.info/en/map

https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/national-news/new-montreal-light-rail-train-line-saw-two-service-interruptions-on-day-of-launch-7353740

https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/montreal-light-rail-transit-system-shuts-down-on-1st-official-day-of-service-1.6500552

https://rem.info/en/reseau-express-metropolitain

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel-De_Champlain_Bridge

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=REM+Train

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Samuel-De+Champlain+Bridge

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Montreal

Montreal REM vs. Vancouver SkyTrain comparison

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/montreal-rem-vancouver-skytrain-comparison

If the SkyTrain could ever have longer stations & longer trains, then it might be on the same level as even the Montreal Metro, let alone REM.

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=REM+Train