REM suffers yet another rush-hour outage, deploys shuttle buses

Montreal's light-rail train network suffered yet another service breakdown during Tuesday morning rush-hour, just a day after it ended its offer of free rides to commuters.

The outage was announced just after 7 a.m. 

According to a social media post from the REM account on X, "a technical issue" was to blame for the service interruption between the Gare Centrale station in downtown Montreal and the Panama station, which is the last stop on the South Shore before Montreal-bound riders get on the island.

At the time, the REM said the service resumption time was "undetermined" and that shuttle buses would be deployed. 

In an update about 30 minutes later, the REM said the technical issue was causing "a service modification."

Essentially, service resumed between the South Shore stations and the Île-des-Soeurs station. But once riders got to Île-des-Soeurs, they needed to get off to continue their trip towards downtown Montreal.

Service resumed at around 10:15 a.m., according to a REM info service update on X. That means it took more than two hours for normal service across the entire line to be established.

WATCH | Another rush-hour REM outage: 

3-hour service outage on Montreal’s REM light-rail system blamed on rail switches

6 hours ago

Duration 1:58

A month after the Quebec government called an emergency meeting to address service disruptions on the REM, the system’s operators continue to insist that improvements are being made to boost reliability.

For three weeks, riders did not need to pay to get on the REM — although the service hours were limited to morning and afternoon rush hours during that time.

This week, Montreal's light-rail train network ended its offer of free rides to commuters.

The service is now scheduled to run Monday to Friday between 5:30 a.m. and about 8:40 p.m., with shuttle bus services being offered at night after the last train ride.