Montreal, August 7, 2019 – The Mayor of the Borough of Saint-Laurent and spokesman for the Official Opposition on transportation matters, Mr. Alan DeSousa, today unveiled a motion asking the Québec government to commit to extending the Metro’s orange line from the Côte-Vertu station to the Bois-Franc station of the future Metropolitan Express (REM) network.
“This isn’t the first time that such an extension has been requested. But, given the current context of the upcoming launch of the REM, employment growth in the West Island region, proposed real estate developments and the consequent growth in number of trips in this area, we must have a global vision of the mobility issues. In our opinion, the solution will be found in intermodal transit and the marriage of the Metro and the REM”, declared Mr. DeSousa.
Present plans for the REM do not include a connection to the western portion of the orange line. However, the arrival of the REM at the Bois-Franc train station, with its connections to Montréal-Trudeau airport and the west end, make it the ideal place for a junction with the Metro.
“More than one-quarter (27%) of jobs on the Island of Montreal are located in the western area, a region that’s relatively poorly served by public transit, compared to the city centre. As for the road network, between 500,000 and 1 million vehicles travel there daily. Connecting the orange line to the REM at the Bois-Franc station would therefore considerably reduce the number of cars on the road,” added Mr. Francesco Miele, City Councillor for the Côte-de-Liesse district.
Overall, the Borough of Saint-Laurent believes that, once connected to the orange line, daily traffic at the Bois-Franc station would increase to 76,000 or 23 million travellers per year, causing a related reduction in road traffic of some 22 million vehicle-km.
“Finally, we want to point out that only 2.2 km separate the Côte-Vertu Metro station from the Bois-Franc railway station. Not only that, but 1.2 km of the tunnel has already been built, thanks to construction of the Côte-Vertu Metro garage. This will greatly reduce the cost of the extension,” concluded Mr. DeSousa.
