Five major worksites to follow this year

For the first time since the beginning of the project, some 30 construction sites are active across the entire route. Here is an overview of the major milestones and projects to watch for this year. 

1 – Systems testing on the South Shore

Our eyes are riveted on the first segment of the REM, which will be commissioned in 2022. In 2021, Groupe PMM will begin testing the light rail system on the South Shore. 

Initial tests have been carried out on the following: 

• Train interfaces with the infrastructure, power supply and signalling
• Critical train functions (traction, braking, door opening, etc.)
• Winter-adapted equipment (heated floor, pantograph ice scraper, etc.)
• Switch heaters on the tracks

In recent weeks, trains have reached speeds of 90 km/h in manual operation.

To watch for further testing in 2021:

• Automatic train control systems
• Electronic elements related to the stations (lighting, visual and audio passenger information, etc.)

This summer will also see the completion of the civil works for the control centre. The Groupe PMM consortium will install the control centre equipment at that time. For the South Shore, this year will mark the completion of electrical work and the laying of the first rails on the Samuel-De Champlain Bridge.

2 – Construction of stations in all sectors

Construction has begun on some 20 REM stations. By the end of the year, about 10 stations will be completed or almost completed.

On the North Shore and in the Pierrefonds-Roxboro sector, station construction will also advance. This year, the goal is to have the structural work well underway and even completed in some cases for the Deux-Montagnes, Grand-Moulin, Île-Bigras, Pierrefonds-Roxboro and Sunnybrooke stations. 

3 – McGill and Édouard-Montpetit connection stations 

This summer will mark the end of the blasting at Édouard-Montpetit, which took more than two years to excavate the rock and reach 70 metres deep. In 2021, the station’s steel structure will start to appear, followed by the construction of the station entrance. The installation of the high-speed, high-capacity elevators is scheduled for the fall.

At McGill, work is continuing on the rehabilitation of the double vault and the reinforcement of the Mont-Royal Tunnel, in addition to work to begin building the future station.

4 – West Island 

In the West Island, the objective in 2021 is to complete the 14.5 km of the elevated structure. At present, just over 7 km has been assembled and all 714 pillars and pierheads have been installed.

Track assembly in the Pointe-Claire sector. The rails started being assembled in 2020 on the Pointe-Claire side, and this year, construction of the track and systems in the sector will begin.

5 – Work on the North Shore and in Pierrefonds-Roxboro

Major work on the northern part of the route was launched at the beginning of the year. In Deux-Montagnes, Laval and Pierrefonds-Roxboro, the old infrastructure of the Deux-Montagnes line was dismantled and the transformation of the line into a light  rail system began.

Some 10 level crossings will be transformed into railway overpasses and old railway bridges will be rehabilitated. The Rivière-des-Prairies bridges, linking Montréal to the Îles de Laval and Laval to Deux-Montagnes, will be completed in 2021. Most of the railway overpasses will also be finished by 2021.

2021 in figures

Overall project data to date:

• Kilometres of track installed: 13.7
• Stations under construction 24 
• Kilometres of elevated structures installed:  12.7 
• Number of segments installed: 2771
• Number of pillars installed: 495
• Data related to the excavation : 
  • Cubic metres of soil excavated:  1 069 509
  • Excavated rock in cubic metres: 136 312
• 30 active construction sites, on all the branches