YUL 747 Airport Bus

[ScarletCoral]

https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/confirmed-rem-will-sideline-747-express-bus-to-montreal-airport

Confirmed: REM will displace 747 express bus to Montreal airport

The 747 is to continue only between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. Taking the electric train will be more expensive and, for many, less convenient.

Jason Magder, Montreal Gazette

Updated: November 28, 2018

 

 

The Société de transport de Montréal will kill its popular express airport bus for all but four hours during the day once the new Réseau express métropolitain electric train comes online.

That will probably mean a longer and costlier trip to the airport for thousands who currently board the 747 bus that makes 11 stops between the Berri-UQÀM métro and bus terminal and the airport.

Once completed, the REM will extend from Deux-Montagnes to Brossard, serve the West Island and central Montreal and have 26 stations over 67 kilometres. Service is to begin in 2021, though service to the airport is to start only in 2023. The $6.3-billion driverless light-rail project is overseen by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the province’s largest pension fund manager.

Because of a non-compete agreement reached between the Caisse and the regional transport authority — the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain — the STM will be allowed to operate the 747 shuttle only during the hours the REM won’t be running, roughly from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m.

News of the 747’s severely reduced hours was confirmed by STM chairperson Philippe Schnobb at the agency’s most recent public meeting.

“The REM will allow you to get to the airport in a much more precise time, because the 747 is sometimes caught in traffic,” Schnobb said in response to a question from a transit user.

“But the 747 will continue to run when the REM is closed, so if you get to the airport at 2 a.m., you’ll have a public transit option.”

The statement confirms news about the non-compete clause, first reported in March, just weeks before builders broke ground on the REM.

At the time, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said the question of monopoly zones was not set in stone and was to be worked out with all the parties involved.

STM spokesperson Isabelle Tremblay confirmed the plan to kill the 747 daytime service once the REM comes online, saying it’s to assure a more efficient use of resources and to conform to the non-compete agreement with the ARTM.

The 747 is one of the STM’s more popular routes, accounting for 1.5 million trips in 2017, an increase of 15 per cent from five years earlier.

The 747 is one of the STM’s more popular routes, accounting for 1.5 million trips in 2017, an increase of 15 per cent from five years earlier.

According to a document on the REM’s website, most who board the 747 bus do so from the Lionel-Groulx métro station.

A survey commissioned by the Caisse suggests roughly 77 per cent of those who take the 747 would convert to the REM. However, the service will probably be significantly more expensive for riders. While the ARTM is charged with determining the fare structure for the REM, the same document assumes it will cost $5 more to take the train than the bus. It now costs $10 to ride the 747. (OPUS card holders pay a regular bus rate.)

The Caisse estimates that more than half of the REM’s daily passengers heading to the airport would have taken the 747 bus instead.

However, the REM will probably be less convenient for many of them, since it will leave from Central Station. That means those taking the métro will have to get off at the Bonaventure station and walk about five minutes to catch the REM.

Aéroports de Montréal CEO Philippe Rainville has expressed concern about the expected higher fare “for the 32,000 people who work every day at the airport, especially since the 747 bus used by many of them will probably be withdrawn.”

“Maintaining adequate public service at a reasonable cost is important for ADM as an employer so we can continue to access a workforce stemming from the entire Montreal region,” Rainville was quoted as saying in May.

 

[fmfranck]

Normal avec l'exclusivité donnée au REM. En passant, cette phrase est absolument ridicule : 

Quote

That will probably mean a longer and costlier trip to the airport for thousands who currently board the 747 bus that makes 11 stops between the Berri-UQÀM métro and bus terminal and the airport.

A longer trip to the airport. Un système sur rail qui prend max 30 mins pour se rendre à l'aéroport VS un autobus qui prit dans le traffic. Je crois que le trajet sera au contraire bcp moins long. 

[p_xavier]

6 minutes ago, fmfranck said:

Normal avec l'exclusivité donnée au REM. En passant, cette phrase est absolument ridicule : 

A longer trip to the airport. Un système sur rail qui prend max 30 mins pour se rendre à l'aéroport VS un autobus qui prit dans le traffic. Je crois que le trajet sera au contraire bcp moins long. 

Le prix risque d'être aussi le même, genre un surplus quand t'as pas de carte mensuelle. Vous savez pourquoi je n'aime pas les journalistes, un autre exemple ici. 

[mtlurb]

Je viens de me réveiller... le REM est pas 24/7 ? Il est pas automatisé?

[Normand Hamel]

il y a 1 minute, mtlurb a dit :

le REM est pas 24/7 ? Il est pas automatisé?

Je crois que le REM est 20/7. Et il est bien automatisé.

[p_xavier]

2 minutes ago, mtlurb said:

Je viens de me réveiller... le REM est pas 24/7 ? Il est pas automatisé?

L'entretien n'est pas automatisé lui ;0).

[budgebandit]

What a dumb article lol... the REM will be so much more efficient

When I was in Tokyo, my wife and I walked to the metro with our luggage, took the metro to Ueno station and then boarded the Narita Skyliner to the airport (/s and we survived! s/). 

This will be even more convenient! 

[mtlurb]

il y a 28 minutes, p_xavier a dit :

L'entretien n'est pas automatisé lui ;0).

L’excuse classique. L’entretien se planifie. 

[p_xavier]

2 minutes ago, mtlurb said:

L’excuse classique. L’entretien se planifie. 

Oui, pour réaliser les activités la nuit. Les seuls métros 24/7 que je connaisses sont des métros à 4 voies pour travailler sur 2 voies la nuit et conserver 2 voies en services.  Copenhagen fait la même chose mais avec 1 voies pour conserver son métro ouvert.  Ça pourrait être fait avec le REM mais j'imagine que l'achalandage ne serait pas très élevé, surtout que le métro de Montréal est fermé la nuit.

[mtlurb]

il y a 1 minute, p_xavier a dit :

Oui, pour réaliser les activités la nuit. Les seuls métros 24/7 que je connaisses sont des métros à 4 voies pour travailler sur 2 voies la nuit et conserver 2 voies en services.  Copenhagen fait la même chose mais avec 1 voies pour conserver son métro ouvert.  Ça pourrait être fait avec le REM mais j'imagine que l'achalandage ne serait pas très élevé, surtout que le métro de Montréal est fermé la nuit.

Jaurais du être précis, 24/7 les vendredis et samedis pour que les oiseaux de nuits rentrent à bon port.