MONTREAL — Réseau express métropolitain light rail service between downtown Montreal and Brossard, Quebec, is slated to resume on Monday (Aug. 18) following a six-week closure to prepare for the opening of most of the rest of the REM system.
The closure of the 10.3-mile (16.5-kilometer) section that opened in July 2023 was necessary, REM officials said, to test operations and safety systems [see “Montreal light rail to begin six-week shutdown,” Trains.com, July 5, 2025]. Trains were replaced by shuttle buses. Weekday rail service will resume at 5:30 a.m. on Monday, but will end early on evenings through Aug. 29, with the last train leaving Brossard at 8:20 p.m. and downtown’s Central station at 8:40 p.m. Weekend service is expected to resume in mid-September.
The remainder of the 42-mile (67-kilometer), 25-station system — save for a spur serving Montreal’s Trudeau Airport — is preparing to enter the simulated service phase, in which trains run on the full schedule planned for revenue service, according to an REM news release earlier this month. Opening of the remainder of this system is projected for this fall, although a date has not been announced; the REM said it will have more details “toward the end of August.”
