Branch of Montreal light-rail network to open in November, the other delayed to 2026

Montreal’s fully automated light-rail network won’t open all its new lines according to plan this fall.

Instead, only the branch connecting downtown’s central station to Montreal’s northwest suburbs across the river from Laval, Que., will open in November.

Network operator CDPQ Infra — a subsidiary of Quebec’s pension fund manager — says the branch running to Montreal’s West Island along Highway 40 is now scheduled to open in the spring of 2026.

The two branches were scheduled to enter service at the end of 2024, but that timeline was postponed to fall 2025 and management had been looking at an October start for several months.

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Known as the REM, the first five stations connecting Montreal’s South Shore to downtown’s central station opened in July 2023.

When fully operational the electric network will be composed of 26 stations operating over 67 kilometres, with the last stretch to the Montréal Trudeau International Airport scheduled to open in fall 2027.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2025.