REM: Service disruptions increase as cold weather arrives

The number of service disruptions on Réseau Express Métropolitan has increased with the arrival of colder weather, according to new data News magazine.

Particularly trying from November to January was REM, which experienced a total of 31 service interruptions of 20 minutes or more, which in many cases coincided with bad weather, according to the data obtained. News magazine.

For example, technical problems occurred on the morning of December 4, the day after the first snowfall. On December 8, ice removal from pylons on the Samuel-de-Champlain Bridge was interrupted for 45 minutes. On January 27, a similar operation to de-ice the bridge was disrupted for two hours.

Trajectoire Quebec general director Sarah V. Doyon predicts, “Winter is the reason for the breakdown.” We hope this will be resolved next year. “

Reasons for revised breakdowns

News magazine Through an access to information request, REM's monthly performance reports were obtained, in which full pages are devoted to breakdowns and any other reasons for service interruptions. However, much of the information has been heavily redacted.

Are they caused by weather? Technical errors? Consumers? It's impossible to know what causes these incidents that make many users choke.

CDPQ Infra spokesperson Francis Labbe, however, admitted that it took some getting used to for the first winter period.

“It's virtually the only light rail in the world in a climate like ours. There's no one to come and hold our hand. We have to build expertise and we're in the process of doing that.

In the following months, REM recovered, with three outages in March and zero in April, so far.

Despite the mild winter

However, REM Montreal has been fortunate to experience one of the mildest winters in history, which raises questions for next year.

“Hopefully next winter won't be too harsh. We still have to make sure that next year, things will improve, M^me V. Doyan. […] But we can already see an improvement in REM service regardless of winter.

REM has had a “typical” first year so far, opines Vivre en Ville director Christian Savard, who sits on the REM de l'Est expert committee.

“There's sort of a second experiment, which is winter. These are very different conditions. To see the performance degradation, I imagine.

Interruptions of more than 20 minutes since the REM was placed in service

• August 2023: 5
• September 2023: 6
• October 2023: 5
• November 2023: 11
• December 2023: 7
• January 2024: 13
• February 2024: 6
• March 2024: 3
• April 2024: 0

Source: CDPQ Infra