A groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of Montréal Réseau express métropolitain (REM), the city’s automated metro system, was held by the CDPQ Infra on April 12.
“With this groundbreaking, thousands of people will soon be on site to build one of the world’s largest automated transport systems right here. With CAD 4 billion [EUR 2.6 billion] in Québec content and the creation of 34,000 jobs during construction, the REM will generate significant economic benefits for the economies of Greater Montréal and Québec,” Michael Sabia, President of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec said.
In February, CDPQ Infra announced that the Groupe NouvLR and Groupe des Partenaires pour la Mobilité des Montréalais (PMM) are the winning consortia on the project. “With our partners, NouvLR and PMM, we have achieved our objective of delivering the best project at the best price for our clients, the millions of Quebecers counting on us for their retirement, and the citizens of Greater Montréal, who will benefit from a brand-new 67-km, 26-station public transport network that will make travelling easier,” said Macky Tall, President of CDPQ Infra.
Under the project, four branches will be connected to the downtown and 13 stations will have bus connections and parking facilities. The system will be operated by fleet of 240 cars, with 4-car train at rush hour and 2-car train at off-peak times.
Within the project, NouvLR won the infrastructure engineering, procurement and construction contract. The consortium comprises SNC Lavalin Grands Projets, Dragados Canada, Groupe Aecon Québec Ltée, Pomerleau and EBC.
Partenaires pour la Mobilité des Montréalais (PMM) won the rolling stock and systems and operation and maintenance contract, with a total value of EUR 1.8 billion. It is formed by Alstom Transport Canada and SNC-Lavalin O&M.
The total value of the project is CAD 6.3 billion (EUR 4 billion), a less than 5 percent variation from the preliminary estimates.
According to the schedule, an initial testing will be conducted at the end of 2020 and the first riders will begin boarding in the summer of 2021.
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