Montreal’s REM Faces Elevator Issues

Montreal’s new Réseau Express Métropolitain (REM) light-rail network is not as accessible as it claims to be, according to users in a report by CBC News. REM opened at the end of July, and there have been 29 instances where an elevator was not available — in the 73 days of operation, there have only been 30 days when all nine elevators were working. More than half of the delays occurred during peak hours. The disruptions ranged from 4 min to multiple hours. In 12 cases, the elevator was offline for more than 8 h while repairs were completed. In five instances, the repair took longer than a day. The most glaring was the Gare Centrale elevator, which was broken for nearly three weeks in August. The source reports that the data was taken directly from the REM’s own social media feed, @REM_infoservice, which posts whenever an elevator goes offline and when it’s back in service. CDPQ Infra says most of the elevator issues are due to people holding the doors.