Visiting the Deepest Train Station in Canada | REM Mount Royal Tunnel

[@RMTransit]

What was your favourite transit project I covered this year?

[@awesomeman116a]

This one has to be my favourite!! It’s so cool

[@xander1052]

Honestly GO RER still really excites me, even If I'll likely never be able to use it as I live so far from Canada.

[@davistate661]

The REM for sure. Highly encouraging to see a project of this scale in North America being done quickly and for a reasonable cost.

[@MrDigitalman78]

The Montreal REM project and WiFi network working underground in the tunnels

[@jamesbunn751]

this is the best video I've watched from you sir - I did not want it to be over so soon

[@NotJustBikes]

This is absolutely amazing! Thanks for taking us down there. It's highly encouraging to see quality transit being built in Canada. I'm particularly interested to see how the limestone walls will look in the final station. Nice!

[@RMTransit]

Haha, I just want to see Toronto get to 70% as impressive as the stuff Montreal is doing - someday!

[@alexseguin5245]

Did you ever visit Montreal? You should come here some time, we have fairly nice bike infrastructure here :)

[@simoneh4732]

NJB Montreal vid!

[@djsmeguk]

I just want Ottawa's to work

[@kevinlove4356]

@@alexseguin5245 Has the City of Montreal stopped their bad habit of shutting down a lot of the bike infra in winter and using it for things such as snow storage?

[@nicholasingold8977]

The reason I like the REM so much is that everything about it just “makes sense”. Being from Ottawa, so many parts of the O-Train System makes me scratch my head, and honestly make me realize how many missed opportunities there were for something that’s going to have to serve us for the next 100+ years. Just the fact that the REM is fully autonomous and has heated stations should be the standard across all fully grade separated systems in Canada. I swear the OTrain stations were designed by someone in California, quite the wind can rip through Hurdman Station on a -20°C day.

[@Gtunes39]

Hurdman is embarrassingly under-built as a major transfer station. The amount of snow and rain that makes it to the staircases is uncomfortable at best, unsafe at worst. The amount of platform area exposed to the elements there, at Bayview, Blair, and other surface stops is really not suited to our climate.

[@jed-henrywitkowski6470]

My dad is a career truck driver, from the US. One winter he had a load to Canada, and it was so cold that the electric defrosters on his mirrors, were rendered ineffective! The fact that someone built your station with no heat is definitely, a head-scratcher. Hell, the high deserts of the American Western region, including Cali get below 45 degrees in winter!

[@Alley00Cat]

I am so proud of the REM and Montreal metro. As a native Montrealer, you have no idea how much we depend on and love the metro. It is the third busiest in NA after NYC and Mexico. Despite occasional delays, it is incredibly reliable and a life saver during our harsh winters. 60 years later, it’s still running better than ever. We are so happy Montreal has added the REM. CANNOT wait to try!! ❤❤

[@DownieLive]

This is so cool, Reece! I can’t wait to see you unveil the whole REM system for us when it opens!

[@RMTransit]

Haha it’s was so fun! And you better bet I’ll be there on day one!

[@thewaflwizard]

Edouard-Montpetit station is definitely the station that I'm looking most forward to exploring. Btw, it's awesome that you get these opportunities and then you share them with us through videos on KZbin. Thanks!

[@RMTransit]

Sharing them with everyone is part of why I get them! That said I wouldn’t want to do something like this and not share it! Thanks so much for watching!

[@cooltrainsinmontreal4883]

MONTREAL is now planning the REM De L'Est an East End REM extension, hopefully the planners will see common sense and have it directly connect to Central Station, where everything transit connects

[@jeremie1577]

And hopefully they’ll listen to the citizens who don’t want a elevated structure in hochelaga

[@RMTransit]

I’m really excited about it, and I think the fact that it’s elevated is pretty cool!

[@jeremie1577]

@@RMTransit yes it is cool for the part that is not in downtown, but in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, people fear an elevated concrete structure (on maisonneuve or Ontario) will divise neigbourhood and diminish their quality of life.

[@GeneralDestroyQc]

@@jeremie1577 Honnêtement je voix pas pourquoi le monde on autant peur d'un train aérien l. Je trouvre que ca fais un magnifique espace pour un parc et des pistes cyclable et meme terrain de jeux pour les enfants. Melbourne est un bon exemple. Je voix pas en quoi ca coupe le quartier. Tu peix juste marcher en dessous. Les pilliés sont assez éloignés, pas comme les autoroutes :)

[@ve2dmn]

​@@GeneralDestroyQcIls trouvent ça "Laid, bruyant et inutile" parce qu'ils ont déjà le Métro.

[@JeffBilkins]

It's really cool they organize these media tours. Such an effective way to communicate the project with great amplification. Seems relatively cheap and uncomplicated to setup compared to the actual work and I'd assume the guiding staff enjoys the break of talking to enthusiasts.

[@RMTransit]

I concur!

[@_Matt_Matt_365_]

I can now fully understand why your where so HYPED in your IG stories!! What a piece of infrastructure!! Thanks for the amazing coverage!

[@RMTransit]

It was incredibly cool to see! So happy to be able to do stuff like this to share it!

[@fernbedek6302]

Montreal is such an aesthetic city. I need to visit again. (Or live there…)

[@RMTransit]

It’s really beautiful, especially all the old buildings!

[@fernbedek6302]

@@RMTransit I definitely have a soft spot for the ‘futurist brutalism’ type stuff as well.

[@fernbedek6302]

@@cmmartti A mix of historic masonry and high quality brutalism.

[@alexandrest-amour8751]

My soon-to-be closest REM station! Thanks for the inside look :)

[@shmotten]

Now THIS is a real transit project! Glad Canada is moving forward on that :) Hope we can see how the neighbourhood will glow up with this connection

[@gl4989]

I think it's mostly financed bu Québec not Canada

[@perrinms]

I used to ride the train often in the late 50's and early 60's with my grandpa who lived in TMR. I'm also a civil engineer and this is an incredible project and transformation. Thanks for this video and the others on REM.

[@oskarsrode2167]

Reminds me very much of the Stockholm city tunnel for the (already long existing) commuter trains. Only there you have two island platforms and no long elevators (the new subway stations close to the sea crossings will get them tho), but a maze connecting to existing subways and the old Central station.

[@RMTransit]

In this case because of the existing tunnel the platforms logically were side

[@oskarsrode2167]

Yes, for an existing tunnel it is a no brainer. There are actually plans for the narrow guage Roslagsbanan commuter rail to move the terminus to the Central station. This would create a mega station complex with the red and green lines (2+2 stacked tracks), blue line (2 tracks below and perpendicular), the relatively new 4 track commuter train station and a new 4 track Roslagsbanan terminus almost parallell to the latter, and with the northern exit connecting to the green line Hötorget station.

[@dannymongrain4788]

great video, thank you! Much more comprehensive than other articles in other media from the same visit. I can't wait for that station and this REM line to be in service as I'll use it daily to dash to downtown. Will be a nice north-south alternative to the orange Metro line. FYI I asked the REM if the staircase would be accessible to the public and they won't except under emergency situation. That's too bad as I would have appreciated using them as a workout. FYI #2 at the end of the video you mentioned a new underground pedestrian tunnel linking the REM to the metro stations. In fact this tunnel is 30+ years old and was in use when the sport of the current REM station was actually a secondary metro entrance

[@RMTransit]

I love to do comprehensive videos like this!

[@calumashleymcdonough8955]

Wow, super cool and well researched video! I love the exposed limestone rock walls Reece talks about at 7:20 of the video.

[@RMTransit]

Thanks so much! I love them too! Dare I say one of my favourite features!

[@DiscoverMontréal]

Amazing tour!! Vive le REM!

[@RMTransit]

Thanks for stopping by!

[@heymike7037]

Yo, don't apologize for liking REM! REM is dope!! As someone from Ottawa I look at the REM with a certain amount of envy.

[@bahnspotterEU]

Good stuff! I definitely have to hand it to you Canadians, that you plan and build way better projects than your southern neighbours. Instead of pointless tiny streetcar lines like in many US cities, that seem to be little more than a cheap way for them to claim "We have public rail transport!", you build extensive and useful lines and systems that will actually improve connectivity and travel within the cities. Be it the REM, the Eglinton Crosstown, the Edmonton Valley Line or Calgary's ambitious Green Line: These projects are large in scope, serve important corridors and really have the potential to boost their respective cities. I hope all these projects will be successful and bring more travel flexibility with them!

[@kevinlove4356]

Add the Hamilton LRT to that list. The LRT will provide revolutionary change for the better for the City of Hamilton.

[@bahnspotterEU]

@@kevinlove4356 Oh yes, there is plenty more: The SkyTrain expansion, and then all the planned upgrades like HFR and GO RER.

[@JonMartinYXD]

Huh, I'm an Edmontonian and frustrated by the lack of ambition in our system. The south run of the Capital/Metro line should never have been brought above ground. Aside from the rise out of the University station the whole thing could have been put underground by cut and cover. Instead of the Valley line they should have branched between Corona and Government Centre and continued west under Jasper Avenue. Mass transit should be grade separated, period.

[@mashdash]

This is so so cool, thanks so much for making this video! I've always wanted to see a full tour of the construction site!

[@liesdamnlies3372]

It’s very cool that you’re invited to these things. Don’t take this the wrong way, but this channel is pretty small, but _healthy._ The important people (those who work in transit) are watching. That’s super valuable.

[@MrMASSEYJONES]

From a former Montréalais and transit enthusiast (but not à flâner); who has ridden through the tunnel countless times from the 50s to the mid-80s, before moving West (and has documented the EMUs here, through a ride through the tunnel, during CN days); sincere thanks for a great video, mostly focusing on engineering.

[@mr51406]

Beautiful video! 🌟 I am SO jealous! I can’t wait to ride the REM. Another 2 years to wait… 1:02 “20 storeys underground”: get Geoff Marshall to evaluate that correctly. 😉 3:20 and 7:25 The geologist part of my brain is going bing!bing!bing! I hope they let the various geology departments of the universities to go study the rocks down there. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to study the structure of Mount Royal. Yes, it is indeed limestone, with magmatic dike intrusions cross-crossing it. The igneous rock (essexite) is further south under the main bulk of the mountain.

[@KhanPiesseONE]

This video was insanely amazing. It astounds me how complex construction is, all the work it takes to build something like this. The cavernous belly of the beast under the city, transporting people across the land, this is SO COOL. I want a huge system like this in Brisbane.

[@Wolfgangtailchase]

I was really happy when you mentioned Stockholm (my home city) would be really cool if you did a explained video on the Stockholm rail network (not just the metro, there are several different kinds of rail) and Stockholm is also constructing the second deepest metro station in the world.

[@RMTransit]

I’m planning on it so stay tuned!

[@Wolfgangtailchase]

@@RMTransit let me know if there is anything you wanna know, i work on the tram.

[@christopherkotsopoulos701]

Fantastic video, Reece! Incredibly jealous you got to witness this in person. The bit about leaving limestone exposed ala Stockholm is very exciting!

[@RMTransit]

I agree, it rocks ;)

[@SnapDash]

Awesome video! What an outstanding opportunity to see such a massive project in-progress. I got to work on the REM team for half a year pre-pandemic; it will be quite the transformation for the whole region.

[@matthewjames6587]

This was awesome! I cannot wait to rewatch this once the station is done and operational

[@unlapras9365]

Impressing ! Paris line 15 will also feature an extremely deep station at Saint-Maur - Créteil which will be accessible with high-capacity elevators (besides sharing its rolling stock with the REM). Its opening even had to be delayed due to the complexity of the project. Engineers have figured out that an underground car park which had to be demolished actually supported the RER station above, so they changed their plans to prevent everything from collapsing. This led to an interesting situation in which the TBM went through a station that hadn't been excavated yet.

[@RMTransit]

It’s actually very common for the TBM to go through an unexcavated station!

[@TheFourFoot]

Fantastic video! I can’t wait to ride this system someday. It’s definite a system that the US should learn from!

[@breenseaturtle]

Yeah it does look really cool

[@RMTransit]

You’ve definitely gotta get up here to check it out!

[@Steff2929again]

The new 'Sofia' metro station (opens 2030) in Stockholm, Sweden, will use a similar solution with elevators instead of escalators. As it will be located at a depth of approximately 100 meters, it would take about 5 min to reach the platforms using conventional escalators. Instead, there will be 8 elevators reducing travel time to about 30 seconds. The Swiss contractor Implenia has some interesting illustrations on their website.

[@RMTransit]

Very deep! Impressive!

[@lightplane]

Thanks for this video Reece - that is going to be an amazing interchange station. I was in Montreal a few weeks ago and saw some of the construction. Also if anybody wants to get on a REM car before it opens, they have one in the Canadian Railway Museum in St. Constant. The museum is across the road from St. Constant Station (Exorail weekdays only - or bus 130 from Montreal Bonaventure bus station to end of route, then bus 30 or 30 minute easy walk). The REM car is in the main hall, far right at the back as you enter.

[@RMTransit]

It’s super cool that they put one there!

[@RB_Productions1]

This is seriously awesome! Nice work Reece.

[@pseudoNAME1979]

Wow, you're so lucky to have had this experience. Thanks for sharing it with us!

[@flemingdh]

At 6:10 you stated that the single tunnel will be split in two for fire and safety reasons, like in Vancouver. That's something new in Montreal as, except for a brief stretch on the Orange line between Place St Henri and Vendome, the metro uses single two way tunnels. Very interesting video. Thanks for posting it!

[@clemutyuirtaswerc]

Hey that's where i go to school! Great video i cannot wait for the REM to open.

[@RMTransit]

Awesome! You’ll be able to use it hopefully!

[@kosikond]

Reece is quickly becoming Canada's answer to Geoff Marshall, keep it up mate!

[@andrewweitzman4006]

This is a cool look at what I pass by every time I go to my mother's condo in Outremont just down the hill. I had no idea of the scale of what they were doing down there.

[@pettahify]

Nice! And yes, the Stockholm metro is for the most part beautiful, it's lovely to see how Montréal got some inspiration from Stockholm. A side note: it is generally a good idea to keep stations close to the surface, it wouldn't be possible in this project since the tunnel was already in place. One of the new metro lines in Stockholm will unfortunately have deep stations although it was technically feasible to have stations closer to the surface, it would just cost more. Since this kind of infrastructure investment will stay like it is for the foreseeable future it's always worth the extra upfront cost to do everything as good as it can get. Now I have to look at the other videos about REM

[@lzh4950]

Meanwhile instead of preserving the bare rock face Singapore's Promenade station instead has full-height wall paintings of the different layers of soil/sediment/rocks in the ground to showcase the station's depth (probably as the soil here is softer & thus has to be lined with reinforced concrete walls for structural support)

[@jeandanielodonnncada]

Years of being a UdeM PhD student while working at McGill, and my golly the idea of a simple commute between these two of our city's amazing universities is a dream come true. Even if it is too late for me. :)

[@RMTransit]

Haha yeah it would be pretty amazing for that

[@Narcity]

Great vid Reece!

[@quoniam426]

Reminds me that two stations of the Grand Paris Express will be 50 m to 55 m deep. Villejuif IGR and St Maur-Créteil. The latter suffers from technical difficulties and its opening will be postponed by about 10 months, so the trains will run through it without stopping for a year ! The first one will have line 14 35 m deep, just above future line 15 and won't be ready for the opening of the line 14 extension to Orly in 2024, line 14 trains will pass through without stopping until line 15 opens, unless the work progress is faster... Also, at some point, when the French Governement wanted to extend the South and MEditerranean High Speed rail line from Marseille to Nice, the first drafts envisaged a TGV station 70 meters deep under Marseille St Charles actual station, Spanish style to allow the TGV to pass through without reversing at St Charles surface station !!! I don't know where that project sits as of now but it could have been glorious.

[@RMTransit]

Very interesting to hear!

[@quoniam426]

@@RMTransit And BTW, North Korea, Pyonyang metro has the deepest metro stations in the world and will remain so, approx 80 to 100 m deep ! They were built that deep to avoid nuclear bombardment...

[@Tuberuser187]

Awesome to see the partly lined track tunnel, must have been great to visit it.

[@mathpoulin]

The "new pedestrian tunnel connection" you show 8:12 is actually a worksite for one of the elevators that's being retrofitted into the metro station! ;) The STM has similarly fast-tracked the installation of elevators at McGill on the Green line, so that all connections with REM can be universally accessible when the REM starts operating. Also, the REM doesn't need to build a new pedestrian tunnel at Édouard-Montpetit, because a metro station entrance already existed where the REM elevator pit is being built. So, this old pedestrian tunnel will simply be reused!

[@RMTransit]

Yes I totally forgot actually, you’re right!

[@maxglendale7614]

Fantastic! Thank you for video!

[@Rahshu]

I love these kinds of videos that document how old infrastructure is retrofitted for new uses. It's interesting to see the solutions devised for each project, especially in a society that is otherwise fairly dedicated to shorttermism and throw-away consumption. Do you think you could do a similar video on the Harold Interlocking in New York City as part of their East Side Access project? I'm not aware of anyone having really comprehensively covered the topic which is rather complex.

[@davidreichert9392]

Montreal is definitely the crown jewel of Canada for mass transport (as a Torontonian it pains me to say it, but it's a clear cut fact). I will definitely pay a visit to ride it once it is done (and drive a quick lap around Circuit Gilles Villeneuve).

[@goosevillage]

NOT TRUE !!!! From a former Montrealer. The TTC subway cars in Toronto come with AC, not the Metro cars in Montreal. YUK on hot summer days . YUK YUK YUK.

[@tIhIngan]

Cool video. I love massive long-lasting infrastructure like the Montréal Métro and this tunnel. Not a fan of relying on high-speed elevators though. What's been done in some tightly fit Métro stations is to have a pedestrian tunnel going away from the station and have escalators to the surface there. Considering the depth of this station I don't know how expensive this would have been, but this could have been an opportunity to build a small footprint multi-level underground mixed-use office/commercial thing, since you're already digging a deep hole into the earth. Nothing massive, just have a shop or office or 2 at each escalator level and help recuperate the cost of construction in rent over the next 50 years or so. I think that would have been super cool.

[@naturallyherb]

This is a lot like Hong Kong University station on the MTR Island Line. That was part of an extension opened in 2014, and is 70 m deep under the campus which is on a mountain, and accessed by multiple high speed elevators, sharing many similarities here.

[@RMTransit]

Very similar indeed!

[@Hardtransport]

Wow, what an amazing video!, that remembers me when i visited the Los Leones station when it was on construction for the Line 6 on 2016, i got some amazing photos that i took from that visit, the equipment, a shipment paper from vossloh and colas rail that was on a box, the tunels, the main station being built, it was an amazing experience too :D

[@markiangooley]

I immediately thought of Washington Park station in Portland. Yes, that’s a lot smaller. I really liked looking at the core samples there.

[@JKVisFX]

Very cool. Deep bore tunnel projects are my favorite kind of projects. Long, deep tunnels have always been a passion of mine (yeah, I know, I'm a real geek). I love the idea of leaving some of the bare rock exposed. My favorite country for tunnels is Norway in large part because so many of them are exposed rock tunnels, just holes mined through the mountains, no lining, no lighting, just bare rock. This is especially true with the railroad tunnels.

[@gregorarmstrong01]

Been a great set of videos this year keep it up

[@alexjohnson8209]

Wow amazing reece cant wait for the rem to complete an you take us through. It all you are a great transit professional canada need you to show them how to plan an build transit god bless you.

[@rcl998]

as a student in UdeM, it sucks when u realize the construction of this part will only finish after my graduation...

[@RMTransit]

For the next generation!

[@dijikstra8]

There is a similarly deep station planned in Stockholm at the Gullmarsplan station. It's for a new subway that will connect one of the green line branches to the blue line. It will be 70 meters below the existing train station and will be similarly accessed by elevators. It will also have another exit with escalators though, the existing station is at the top of a hill. It will help with the crowding on the central parts of the green line, but it will also disrupt some existing service patterns meaning people on the green line branch will have to change trains (using the fast elevators) to get to central parts of Södermalm.

[@RMTransit]

Very cool to hear!

[@alainouellet7794]

Vert interesting!!Thx again for the great content!!!

[@jonod7913]

Can you do a site visit of the elevated track sections too? or a drone flyover like The Four Foot would be awesome

[@RMTransit]

Eventually, unfortunately drone shots aren’t as easy in Canada haha

[@thomaslusignan762]

Great video! This link will be incredibly helpful to connect UdeM/HEC/Polytechnique students to downtown and the other universities. It's currently an almost 40 minutes metro ride from Édouard Montpetit to McGill (all the way around the Mont-Royal park), which will be cut to 3 minutes with the REM. Also: There is currently a lot of debate in the Montréal media about the REM de l'Est, mostly because of aerial structures. There is also the fact that the project will cannibalize a part of the under-utilized Green Line instead of serving completely new areas. I would be very interested in your view of these critiques (especially with your experience with SkyTrain). Video idea? Keep up the great content !

[@RMTransit]

I actually talked about it in my REM East Demystified so consider checking that out!

[@markusgruber7999]

Very impressive Station! Please make a video about Vienna's Underground and Tram System.

[@RMTransit]

Eventually!

[@SandBoxJohn]

Escalators are not typically delivered in one piece. They are typically delivered in no less then two segments for an escalator with the top landing roughly 14' 4.2 meters above the bottom landing. For longer escalators they will typically have additional segments for roughly ever 10' 3 meters of vertical rise. You are privileged to have seen the construction at this stage of completion. I had a privilege of seeing much of the under construction Washington Metro in the 1970s through the 1990s. Saw the Dupont Circle station cavern before the precast arch was installed, walked the pioneer tunnel that was bored to mine the Woodley Park station cavern, saw the business end of the rock tunnel boring machine used to bore the Red line tunnels west of Rock Creek at the bottom of the north vent shaft of what would be the Van Ness - UDC station.

[@daniellucia7331]

Thanks for the video!!

[@Pika250]

Getting The Under vibes from this. If you have a station this deep, may as well try to build a city (or at least a city extension) underground just to connect to that station.

[@Christian_Martel]

I live about 2km from a REM station on the South Shore. I’m looking forward to use it!

[@tobbakken2911]

Would love to see you make a video about the train and metro system in Oslo Norway.

[@carfreeneoliberalgeorgisty5102]

How deep is the station compared to Rideau station? It's quite the deep station as well.

[@RMTransit]

3 times deeper

[@ethandanielburg6356]

Very interesting video! I agree that it will be super convenient to be able to take the REM from Édouard-Montpetit to downtown in just a few minutes, considering that it currently takes around 30 minutes or more by bus or metro. The thing that I find less than ideal about the REM is the fact that currently (with the exception of Édouard-Montpetit and the downtown stations) the areas near most of the REM stations are not at all dense. Some are in suburban areas with lots of single family homes and others are right near highways with not much nearby. This will hopefully change (at least to some extent) as there will hopefully be transit oriented development at many of the stations. Without intensive TOD, I don’t know if an automated metro with trains every 2 minutes makes sense in these areas. And since a lot of the suburbanites who might want to use the REM don’t live within walking distance of a station, there’s also the question of how people will access the stations. I hope that people will find it convenient enough to take a bus to their nearest REM station, rather than drive. But I get the sense that a lot of people are going to want to drive, and if we were to try to provide parking for all of them, there would have to be huge parking lots near the stations. I think there’s reason to be optimistic about TOD though, considering all the TOD we have seen built at the three metro stations in Laval (there wasn’t much dense development in those areas before the metro stations were built), as well as the metropolitan region’s plans for concentrating development near transit stations. The developments near the suburban SkyTrain stations in greater Vancouver could also be an interesting model.

[@RMTransit]

The thing is many of the same things were true for the Vancouver SkyTrain. Good connecting transit and redevelopment is powerful!

[@jarjarbinks6018]

Despite being entirely underground the Montreal rem seems set to be exorbitantly cheaper than Seattle’s light rail project. Maybe I’m missing some important details but the cost differences between the two different systems seem astounding.

[@RMTransit]

The system isn’t entirely underground but it is quite inexpensive

[@paupadros]

So cool! I think they've underestimated the demand for the REM though. Whilst you're at it, it's much cheaper to just build these new stations underground with a bit of extra platform length. Personally I would have gone for 120m for 6 cars. Here in Barcelona, there is a major suburban rail network built almost a century ago that uses 4-car trains. They use 90-second headways but even so the capacity is pretty full. Pre-COVID the trains would be full at the second station of journeys of over 50 minutes in length. The newer stations in that line are built for 6 cars, even the underground ones, and sealed off until the line is expanded to 6 cars.

[@RMTransit]

To be fair capacity can be expanded, and SDO is an option

[@paupadros]

@@RMTransit You can only go so far with shortening the headways. I mean, using SDO for a brand new system would be a bit of dud honestly.

[@rapjul]

@@glaframb "Selective Door Operation" - basically only opening some of the doors on a car at a station. One system that regular uses this feature is the DLR in London, because some stations were only built with four cars in mind, especially the underground stations. It's too cost prohibitive to add to lengthen the platform, instead there are announcements before stations that use SDO that tell people to move towards the center of the train to get off. This can also be seen on buses with multiple doors, usually only the front door opens automatically (at least in the US).

[@Brick-Life]

Awesome to get invited to the construction site of the REM!

[@ryanelliott71698]

This is wayyyyyy more impressive and cool than the lgb slop that was Musks Vegas Loop. This actually has safety and capacity in mind. I’m calling it. In 10 years someone’s gonna get injured or killed in that loop.

[@NazmusLabs]

zyikes

[@alexseguin5245]

Yeah, the loop project is a fucking joke

[@Da_Big_G]

One thing I was wondering. Have they entertained the idea of using the Mount Royal Tunnel for through ViaRail services? A package of upgrades for the ViaRail routes is planned and what would be cool would be direct services between Québec City towards Toronto where the trains don't need to turn around, for which I assume the Mount Royal Tunnel would be necessary.

[@RMTransit]

I mean they have but VIA sat and things moved 2wihout them

[@hayttom]

Awesome. Thanks!

[@imsbvs]

Makes me think of the RER in Paris or the Crossrail (Elizabeth Line) in London. As for deep railway stations look at the new station in Jerusalem, different because it is not a metro but the main line terminus for services into the city from elsewhere in the country, still a new and very deep station.

[@dentrobate54]

This is so cool, I agree. Hopefully now some of the missing links will get completed as well, like: - a metro through NDG, Montreal Ouest and Lachine; - a metro through Saint Laurent and Chomedey to Carrefour Laval; - a metro to St Hubert via Vieux Longueil and Chambly - either a metro or REM as a spiritual successor to the Pink Line (the planned Lacordaire REM arm probably won't see as much demand by contrast). Then that spaghetti of metro lines Jean Drapeau had envisioned from the 50s will have come to fruition!

[@peterj.teminski6899]

Thanks for the tour Reece. Did you mention if the elevators are single or double platform? Cheers.

[@RMTransit]

Do your mean single or double deck? They are single

[@peterj.teminski6899]

@@RMTransit Thanks, I cannot wait to see this station in operation.

[@stevenroshni1228]

If you haven't already, a video about station depth in transit systems would be great. "Is the 2nd Ave Subway Flawed?" video by Un Bateau has some thoughts.

[@MrJoeVicent]

When will they finish it? It's taking ages!!

[@Cprailf]

hope you visit new metro construction blue line you have to !! peace

[@RMTransit]

I’d love to!

[@nicolasblume1046]

Doesn't Montreal also need a new tunnel for mainline trains, now as the old Tunnel will be converted for REM operations?

[@ZontarDow]

No because of the two lines that used the tunnel one was turned into the Deux Montagues branch of the REM while the other transfers to buses before it reaches the converted rail and will eventually connect with the REM de l'Est which will end its on island part of the service and likely be expanded to replace the line entirely. It's an open secret here that the REM intends to replace EXO rail and city to city bus service.

[@nicolasblume1046]

@@ZontarDow what do you mean it will replace City to City Bus service? What about long distance trains to Toronto for example?

[@ZontarDow]

@@nicolasblume1046 HSR service tends to kill city to city bus service between the cities it connects for the same reason it usually kills air travel between them if they're 200-400 miles between the two cities, the cost and time combination makes people want to use it over paying more for a flight that's about the same time or a bit less for a significantly longer bus ride. As for long distance train travel, above 500 miles HSR lines tend to be more useful at connecting cities along its route. A single line going from Quebec City to Indianapolis wouldn't have many people going between the two cities, but between Quebec City and Montreal, Montreal and Toronto, Toronto and Detroit, Detroit and Chicago, and Chicago and Minneapolis each have enough traffic where having what is effectively one line is viable. Due to the price you probably would have some people willing to go between places like Chicago and Toronto for a lower price and and more comfortable trip over air at the cost of increased transit time, though not enough to justify such a line for the specific purpose of connecting the two.

[@77dris]

I would love to hear your input on the GO Train delays happening now to Hamilton and London because of issues with freight traffic.

[@RMTransit]

Probably good to invest in some more track!

[@dontown1531]

No where in video did you mention the total depth--surface to track level. Curious to know.

[@RMTransit]

About 72 meters!

[@dontown1531]

@@RMTransit Only 72 meters from street level to tracks?

[@MervynPartin]

That was really impressive. Do you know if the construction is on time and within budget? I am keen to know how things are going compared with our poor track record (pardon the pun) with large projects here in UK. (edit due to keyboard missing words)

[@RMTransit]

It’s gone over budget and late a bit, but not so much that it doesn’t feel impressive. This project was never announced until about 5 years ago and trains are already running.

[@ReloadZYT]

IMPRESSIONNANT / IMPRESSIVE 🥰🥰

[@lance-biggums]

Leaving that limestone exposed is such a cool idea

[@ZontarDow]

My one issue with the station and tunnel is that given there are three branches opening in the north side of the island and two more planned, one of which is clearly intended to eventually replace the St Jerome line, and the possibility of a third new branch to connect with the REM de l'Est along the Mascouche line when that eventually gets replaced, I feel the system would be better served in the long run had the stations been built with an express lane given the issues of bottlenecking that I can see arising down the road.

[@RMTransit]

I think a new tunnel is a better solution to that honestly

[@u1zha]

Yay to exposed rock!

[@ayindestevens6152]

Nice Video! And I’ll admit jealousy on this!

[@roger1818]

Any word if or how the tunnel could be shared with VIA Rail for HFR? While publicly they are saying they are willing to work with VIA, they are building roadblocks to make it impossible From what I have heard the high frequency makes it almost impossible to insert a VIA train into the schedule and the use of narrow rolling stock makes the ROW at station platforms too narrow to allow a conventional coach to pass.

[@guyr.6053]

That's some great video tour.. But how deep is the station? And how it'll connect to the Metro station? This reminds me much of the Israeli deepest train station - at 80 meters deep, Jeruslem got its' mainline railway deep underground, but we do have escalators there... I visited during construction and it was at least twice as big as what shown in the video. Thats why I really identified with you saying it's hard to pass the true size of large cavernous spaces thru video.

[@RMTransit]

It’s about 73 meters deep!

[@bennythepooh4905]

I literally lived a 5 minute walk from there in the mid 1990s.

[@Brian_rock_railfan]

great video

[@eannamcnamara9338]

will the elevators be able to carry everyone who get's off a train before another train pulls in? the website says there will be trains every 2.5 minutes, and as trains go both ways, we can assume a train every 1.25 minutes. that's a lot of people to move in such a short time before even more people arrive. Even in the far more realistic scenario that on a percent of the passengers get off at the station, that still seems like a logistical challenge. I'm sure they designed the station to be able to do that, but i was just wondering.

[@RMTransit]

They shouldn’t have a problem. The station will have 4 or five very large elevators and they will cycle in less than a minute meaning basically one will always be open on each level.

[@m.e.3862]

I just hope it can handle the overflow when the orange line breaks down as it usually does at rush hour at least once a month

[@m.e.3862]

Well it looks impressive, but I want to see how it is during rush hour. The rem did a good job of selling the project by letting you tour it. I'm personally not that crazy about it. The non-compete clause across the Champlain bridge means my commute will be longer, more expensive, less comfortable during rush hour and adds a "last mile" . I specifically bought a place in a TOD to eliminate the last mile and now I'm back to waiting in the cold to get a bus to a train station to board a crowded train to get to a Metro. And I hope those elevators can handle the overflow of angry and tired commuters when the metro breaks down which it does on a regular basis

[@RMTransit]

Having massive numbers of buses going over the bridge wasn’t really sustainable unfortunately

[@m.e.3862]

Well i guess so although I've been commuting down town by bus for 40yrs

[@bipbipletucha]

This is so cool!

[@custardo]

Very impressive!

[@mjfan653]

once, at some station, a hobo told me "life is just a part of death, death is just a part of life" and that was way deeper, and scarier. in the end, after he showed me his cool new shiny knife, i thought he was cool enough to keep my wallet.... for some reason my credit score improved after a few payments to the "pimps n crack bank ltd"

[@simoneh4732]

Any word on the issue of VIA HFR using that tunnel?

[@RMTransit]

Probably unlikely, but it’s possible

[@123benny4]

I use the metro system a lot and have no problem with it. This makes me feel claustrophobic. Hopefully, I'll just be passing through on the train. Yikes!

[@earthsteward9]

Deep research