West Islanders 'orphaned' by new light-rail system, says commuter advocacy group

People who live inMontreal's West Island will have to wait another eight weeks to know ifthey can expect Montreal's new light-rail system to reach them by 2021, 2023, or somewhere in between.

It's frustrating news for commuters in the west, who struggle to get downtown amid ongoing construction on the Turcot Interchange.

"The transit is long," saidSilvia Dos Santos, who commutes from the West Island to McGillUniversity. "It kind of makes going to class a bit of a drag."

The Train de l'Ouest Coalition has been working for years to get better train service to the West Island and it says they are now getting "left behind."

"The West Island is an orphan," said Clifford Lincoln, a spokesman for the coalition.

"We can't get people in and out as much as we want."

The first portion of the rail project will connect the South Shore to Montreal but the West Island is still to be confirmed, saidCPDQInfra, theCaissededptet placement duQubecsubsidiary responsible for the light-rail project.

It was announced Thursday that the project would be completed one year later than initially projected.

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A train every 5 minutes during rush hour

Lincoln blames construction on the Turcot Interchange,which is slated to continue until 2020, for creating a "mess" for West Island commuters on Highways 20 and 40.

CPDQ Infra president Macky Tall said West Islanders don't have to worry about delays pushing back the completion of their section of the project beyond the 2023 final deadline forthe entire network.

"We are as confident as it gets," he told CBC Montreal's Daybreak.

"We have binding contracts with guaranteed completion dates."

Tall promises the light-rail trains will run every five minutes during peak hours.

It signals a dramatic change from the current commuter train service through the West Island, the Rseau de transport mtropolitain(RTM) trains, which take commuters to and from downtownabout every 20 minutes during rush hour.

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What will a ticket cost?

Tall said the network will have zoned fares, similar to the way the RTM currently charges users on its network.

Tall added that the user cost per kilometre will be comparable to what commuters in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue or Kirkland currently pay to get into downtown.

A regular, one-way fare from Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue to downtown costs $5.75 on the RTM train network.

Do I need to get another transit card?

Tall said public transit users will pay for buses, Metros, the REM and trains seamlessly on the same card.

Is the driverless system safe?

The light-rail system will be automated and not have a driver on board.

Tall said a similar system is used in Vancouver and is extremely reliable. He added that Montreal's network is designed to handle the city's winter conditions.

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