ARTM beefs up South Shore shuttle bus service during REM breakdowns

Commuters stranded on one of Montreal's light-rail trains during service breakdowns will soon have better emergency shuttle service.

On Thursday, the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM), which is Montreal's regional transit planning agency, announced a change to the service's backup plan for the Réseau Express Métropolitain (REM). 

Starting Sept. 16, most people stranded on the REM during long service breakdowns — which means more than 20 minutes during peak hours and more than 30 minutes outside of those hours — will be able to take shuttle buses to get to any other station on the existing REM network, regardless of the time of day.

Right now, where you can get by shuttle during a breakdown depends on your location, the time of day and where you're going.

For example, commuters who are stuck at either the Brossard or Panama stations on the city's South Shore can only be shuttled to the downtown Montreal Gare Centrale if the service breakdown happens:

• Monday to Friday between 5:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. 
• Monday to Friday between 6:30 p.m. and the time the network closes.
• All day on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.

Between 2:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on weekdays, people headed downtown are currently bused to the Longueuil Metro station, which forces them to take the Metro's Yellow Line to get to their destination.

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After a year filled with excitement as well as reliability and accessibility struggles, the developer behind the city's light-rail transit system says staff have gained knowledge and know-how that can be applied to lines set to open in the coming years.

"These changes will lead to more predictability for both the public transit users and the transit operators that put this plan in motion," reads a statement from the ARTM.

"The user experience will be improved thanks to the reduction of connections during afternoon commutes."

The ARTM says the change will make it easier for commuters to hop back onto the REM once the outage is resolved.

The transit authority also announced that shuttle buses will always be deployed from de la Gauchetière Street in Montreal in front of Place Bonaventure, which is next to Gare Centrale.

Some shuttles are currently stationed at the downtown bus terminal, about three kilometres away.

The changes do not apply to the Du Quartier station. Commuters stuck at Du Quartier can take shuttle buses to go to the other REM stations, except Gare Centrale, and switch to a different shuttle if needed.

The electric train network began operating from downtown Montreal to the South Shore in July 2023. Service will eventually include stops in the West Island, Sud-Ouest borough, Montreal's North Shore and the Trudeau International Airport.

CDPQ Infra, the network's developer, faced criticism during the service's first year for service breakdowns and the lack of clear communication during those outages.