‘Truly incredible’: Commuters impressed with new branch of Montreal’s rail network

MONTREAL — Fifteen-year-old Dustin Flores-Ranger says he’s taken a ride on the new branch of Montreal’s light-rail network for three consecutive days – since the extension opened to the public over the weekend.

The teenager says he’s been passionate about public transit his whole life, and wanted to be around on Monday to make sure everything ran smoothly.

“This Monday, no shutdowns. Service was very proper,” he said from the McGill station, among the 14 new stations connecting downtown Montreal with its northern exurb of Deux-Montagnes, Que.

The new 30-kilometre extension of the REM – Réseau express métropolitain – officially entered into regular service on Monday, after it opened to the public free of charge on Saturday and Sunday.

Wearing a REM jersey he snagged when the first five stations opened in 2023, Flores-Ranger described the extension to the network as “truly incredible.”

When the REM first opened, it connected commuters from Montreal’s South Shore, over the Champlain Bridge, into downtown’s central station. Now the train travels northwest, through a tunnel under Mount Royal, linking the campuses of McGill University and Université de Montréal before it continues along the north end of the island and across the Prairies River to Laval, Que., and finally to the Deux-Montagnes station.

The network is now roughly 50 kilometres with 19 stations. Two other branches are yet to be opened: the Anse-à-l’Orme branch to the West Island is expected by spring 2026, and the branch connecting the system to Montréal Trudeau International Airport should be online at some point in 2027. Once complete, the network will have 26 stations across 67 km.

Evan Bouwens travelled from Boston to experience the new train. “It’s a way to bring community together,” he said Monday about the power of public transit.

He arrived at the McGill station around 5:40 a.m. – and accidentally boarded an empty train that wasn’t meant for the public. After the train had passed through several stations without stopping, a REM employee noticed him.

“Eventually they let me off,” Bouwens said.

He said he planned to ride the train some more before heading back to Boston in the afternoon.

Bouwens connected over social media with Montrealers Katie Lin and Alice Clauss, all three of whom were together at the McGill station later on Monday morning.

Lin, wearing a T-shirt imprinted with the Montreal metro system, said the new REM branch will make it easier to hop between university campuses to see friends.

“I’m going up this evening to see some friends who live in Parc-Extension, and that’s just something that’s just 20 minutes faster now.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 17, 2025.

Miriam Lafontaine, The Canadian Press