Already blocked for several weeks, the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) elevator at Central Station will remain inaccessible for a while longer. The upgrade work will be delayed due to additional verifications required.
Posted at 2:19 p.m.
This was confirmed on Tuesday by one of the spokespersons for the light rail manager, CDPQ Infra, Francis Labbé, in response to our questions.
The work in question was launched on September 9, with the aim of making it “possible and safe” to use the elevator in REM stations in the event of an evacuation, a first in Quebec.
We want to allow people with reduced mobility to evacuate “independently”, if they wish. The Régie du logement du Québec collaborated on the site. This was initially supposed to last “about four weeks”, but it could take a month and a half, or even more.
Mr. Labbé states that although “the elevator responds well to the updates carried out, there are still checks to be made”.
Everything indicates that the work will be finalized within one to two weeks. We will get back to you when we know more.
Francis Labbé, spokesperson for CDPQ Infra
A temporary elevator – this is a freight elevator that must be operated by an employee – remains available as needed during the work. Employees are on site to help if necessary, assures the Caisse de dépôt.
Users are not at the end of their trouble, since all the other stations in the network, namely Île-des-Sœurs, Panama, Du Quartier and Brossard, will then have to undergo the same work. On its website, CDPQ Infra suggests users check the condition of the elevators “before your trip” in the coming weeks, in order to avoid unpleasant surprises.
On Tuesday, the elevator leading to the platforms of Du Quartier station was out of service in the afternoon due to technical difficulties.
“If work is underway, other travel options will be offered,” we assure, citing the relief buses of the Réseau de transport de Longueuil (RTL), the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) and exo, or even adapted transportation for people who are eligible.
Since the inauguration of the REM in July 2023, problems linked to broken elevators have multiplied. That of the Central station was interrupted for three weeks from the first month of light rail activity, to the great dismay of vulnerable users. Several other technical glitches have since been denounced on social networks, some of which very recently, during the summer season.
