Avoid the La Fontaine Tunnel the free shuttle the occasion

Avoid the La Fontaine Tunnel: the free shuttle, the occasion of a magical moment towards Montreal

During the years of repairing the bridge tunnel, why not RUN OVER while navigating the river?

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Alain Arseneault, a Madelinot with a singsong accent, drives the Volkerak, a 47-seater that offers a free shuttle between Boucherville and the Tétreauville neighborhood of Montreal.

Captain Alain Arseneault

Photo Louis Philippe Messier

Captain Alain Arseneault

For 7:15 departure we are 14 passengers.

“I hate public transport, I avoid the bus, but the boat is different!” exclaims Chantale, a special education teacher who lives in Varennes and has parked her car near the quay.

  • Hear local journalist Louis-Philippe Messier on QUB radio:

“My friends tell me funny cruise ship jokes, and yes, I really enjoy cruising a boat for an hour a day!”

View of the River Shuttle passenger cabin.

Photo Louis Philippe Messier

View of the River Shuttle passenger cabin.

The Bellerive Park jetty is not near a tube station. Three passengers have bicycles on board. An electric scooter is used. For me it will be BIXI.

“The boat is great at sunrise,” says Danielle, a teacher at Collège Ville-Marie who has been a boater for over a year.

“The boat takes 30 minutes to leave the island, compared to an hour and a half it could take me by car!” says Pierre-Luc Blanchette, owner of butcher shop AAA Gourmet.

“I’d rather come to work on oxygen than get crushed in traffic!” says Isabelle, a teacher who oversees the physiotherapy internship at the Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine Hospital.

She drinks her coffee and has breakfast on board.

Our crossing companions look forward to seeing the rising sun.

“I don’t understand why so few people use the shuttle,” says Danielle.

Neither do I !

The setup of the Boucherville descent is very idyllic, especially in the morning!

Photo Louis Philippe Messier

The setup of the Boucherville descent is very idyllic, especially in the morning!

Departures every 45 minutes from 6:30am to 7:15pm from Boucherville to Montreal (10:15am to 6:30pm on weekends) and from 7:15am to 8pm from Montreal to Boucherville (11am to 7:15pm o’clock on the weekend) Information: navark.approx

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