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Government announcement
8 February 2018

REM: the biggest public transit project in Quebec is getting off the ground


Montréal, February 8, 2018. — Less than two years after its unveiling, the REM project, of which the Government of Quebec is a partner, is getting off the ground. This morning, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec announced that construction will begin in April 2018 and that the first commuters will be able to climb on board in summer 2021. Also announced was the selection of NouvLR General Partnership and Groupe des Partenaires pour la Mobilité des Montréalais (PMM) as preferred consortia.

The REM—which will stretch 67 km—is the biggest integrated public transit infrastructure since the Montréal metro, which opened in 1966. The cost of construction is $6.3 billion. The Government of Quebec committed to $1.283 billion. It will create 34,000 jobs during its construction and 1,000 permanent jobs during its operation. In the metropolitan region, it will reduce economic losses linked to traffic congestion by nearly $1.9 billion per year and will reduce greenhouse gasses by 680,000 tons over 25 years of operation.

Quotes:

With the Réseau express métropolitain project, we are marking a new era of big projects in Quebec. These will call on our expertise, know-how and creativity and contribute to improving the quality of Quebecers’ daily lives. Almost 65% of the content will be local. Today, before our very eyes, we are seeing one of Quebec’s new faces appear. Quebec, Montréal and our regions are doing better. Our government aims to go even further.

– Philippe Couillard, Premier of Quebec

This project addresses one of our government’s priorities: improving the daily lives of Quebecers by tackling the major issue that is mobility. By extending the reach of public transit in the metropolitan region of Montréal, with zero emissions, the government is contributing to reaching its goals, namely that of reducing the amount of traffic congestion and solo driving. It is definitely a winning project for all of Quebec.

– André Fortin, Minister of Transport, Sustainable Mobility and Transport Electrification