High cost of east-end Montreal REM light-rail link raises red flags

A new report commissioned into the east-end REM line was officially released Tuesday, recommending new stations in Riviere-des-Prairies and connecting the path to Laval and Charlemagne, but with a hefty price tag.

The proposals for the massive REM de l’est project would come at a cost of $36 billion — the most money ever spent on any public transportation project in the province, which is raising some red flags among critics.

The original REM de l’est was supposed to be above ground and cost $10 billion dollars.

Now, the latest study estimates the line will cost almost four times that amount and recommends it be put underground.

“When you add the environmental problems, crossing the railway problems, the power lines. This was just too much to justify to go forward with it,” said Marc Dionne, Project Director of the Metropolitan Regional Transportation Authority (ARTM).

First announced in 2020, the 34-kilometre public transit line connecting the east end has been embroiled in controversy since the start. Read More