Dozens of Réseau express métropolitain (REM) passengers were trapped in carriages for more than two hours while train service between downtown Montreal and Brossard was canceled during rush hour on Monday. A computer failure is the cause.
On Monday around 3:45 p.m., the REM announced on the X network that it was suspending its service.
According to information that CDPQ Infra, operator of the REM, emailed to The Canadian Press earlier this evening, technical problems with the computer system are causing problems and errors in the control center, but a backup plan is in place [a été] Set up around 5:05 p.m.
At that time, four trains stopped between the stations, it is said.
The service had already been suspended earlier in the day due to the same problem and corrections did not resolve the situation, Philippe Batani, vice president of public affairs at CDPQ Infra, confirmed in a telephone interview.
“We are still in the running-in phase, but this is a problem we have encountered for the first time today,” he explained.
At the end of the day, this issue became more severe and required a complete shutdown of the system so that we could make corrections, he added, indicating that minor slowdowns were observed throughout the day.
The trains were only able to gradually resume their journey at around 6:30 p.m.
Lack of communication criticized
Several users, some of whom had been stuck on the train for more than half an hour, complained about the lack of further information, while CDPQ Infra had not published any information on social networks or the REM website since the service shutdown was announced.
Let’s get out. “We’ve been stuck inside for 20 minutes,” one user posted in response to the post.
“We are stuck in a train car overcrowded with people between Gare Centrale and Île-des-Sœurs stations,” said another passenger on the same platform.
Users regretted that the announcement of the glitch was not passed on in subway stations, which resulted in several passengers congregating at the main station, among other places, instead of following alternative routes on their journeys.
The journey between the main train station and Nuns’ Island took about 1 hour and 15 minutes, a passenger trapped in a train car told The Canadian Press. We were just receiving messages every few minutes that the service would be unavailable indefinitely due to a technical issue.
Mr Batani acknowledges that the communication problem needs to be improved.
We take notes. We have been told that the way information is communicated to users during disruptions needs to be improved, he said. This is at the top of our list [de priorités].
In the event of service interruptions, the REM provides buses to passengers.
Planned service disruptions have been announced by CDPQ Infra starting October 15th. These disruptions, scheduled from Sunday to Thursday after 10pm, are expected to extend over a period of six weeks.
Another breakdown occurred on Friday afternoon, during rush hour.