Montreal light-rail system to cost $300M more, come 1 year later than planned

Montreal's light-rail system will cost $300 million more than planned, will come a year later than planned,have one less stop than plannedand is getting a new name, the group responsible for the project revealed Thursday.

CPDQ Infra, the Caisse de dptet placement du Qubec subsidiary responsible for the project, announced Thursday morning a consortium of SNC-Lavalin and Pomerleauhave been tapped to build the infrastructure forthe now $6.3-billion project.

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SNC-Lavalin will alsoprovide the trains, in a partnership with AlstomTransport Canada. Bombardier submitted a bid for the contractbut lost.

"The REM is a colossalproject on a human scale, which comes about only once or twice every generation," federal Transport Minister Marc Garneau said at news conference Thursday.

The higher-than-expected cost represents a five per cent increase from the original price tag, the consortium said during a news conference.

Construction willbegin this April, and only30 to 40 per cent of the project is set to be completed by summer 2021.

When the project was first announced, authorities said it would be done by thefall of 2020.

Other changes include:

• A new name: the network will now be known as the Rseau express mtropolitaininstead ofRseau lectrique mtropolitain, so it will keep its REM acronym.
• An abolished station: the stop that is now gone from the 67-kilometre-long route was planned near Highway 13.
• A design change: the route from the Champlain Bridge to Central Station will now be built above ground along the CN corridors, instead of underground, reducingthe chances thatunderground water collectors will be contaminated.

The consortium that willdo the engineering and build the main infrastructure, including stations andtunnels, bridges and rails, will be made up of SNC-Lavalin, Pomerleau and four other companies.

The system's financing will be split between the federal and provincial governments and agencies.CPDQInfra will invest $3 billion;Ottawa andQuebec are both contributing $1.3 billion.

The Autorit rgionale de transport mtropolitain(ARTM) will spend $500 million on the project, and Hydro-Qubec will contribute $300 million.

Michael Sabia, the head of the Caissededpt, said the new system will help Montrealersmove around the city.

"Going across the island will be easier and faster, why? Because our transportation networks will have more connections and not just more connections, but better connections," said Sabia.

"Going to work, catching a plane, enjoying a festival in downtown Montreal,movingaround the city every day will just be easier, simpler, faster."

Disappointment from Bombardier

Bombardier, for its part, put out a statement acknowledgingit was not selected for the contract.

Company president BenotBrossoitsaid Bombardier's bid was "both very competitive and ideally suited to meet the sustainable mobility needs of the greater Montreal area."

"We understand and share the disappointment our employees have about this announcement," said Brossoit.

Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard, however, said there is more than enough work to go around for Bombardier both across the province and Montreal.

"They have new trains of the actual Metro,"he said.

"The Metro is going to be put on, we talk about the Blue line very soon, and maybe eventually the Pink line, I hope."