The design behind the REM's 14 new stations, and changing how Montreal moves

After six years of construction, detours, and patience-testing delays, the Réseau express métropolitain's Deux-Montagnes branch has arrived. Fourteen new stations now link downtown Montreal to the North Shore, slashing a two-hour rush-hour drive down to about thirty minutes by light rail.

The expansion triples the REM network from 17 to 50 kilometres and quadruples the number of stations from five to nineteen. When the full system is completed by the Anse-à-l'Orme branch set for spring 2026 and the airport connection scheduled for 2027, Montreal will have 67 kilometres of automated light rail and 26 stations.

It's already the world's largest automated light-rail system, and it's only getting bigger.

How it works

Service runs from 5:30 a.m. from both Brossard and Deux-Montagnes stations. Trains arrive every five minutes during rush hour, designed to move more than 42,000 people between 6 and 9 a.m. once ridership reaches capacity. The last train from Gare Centrale to Deux-Montagnes departs at 8:45 p.m.; after that, bus service takes over between Côte-de-Liesse and Deux-Montagnes to allow for continued testing ahead of the Anse-à-l'Orme launch.