The REM's east and northeast expansion project is apparently a go and will be announced tomorrow by Quebec Premier François Legault, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante and CDPQ (Quebec Deposit and Investment Fund, a pension plan manager for Quebec's public sector).
The REM2 will have about 20 stations and two branches that will connect the city centre to Pointe-aux-Trembles and Montréal-Nord (pretty much as illustrated on the map
a few posts above).
The city center segment will be aerial, on boulevard René-Lévesque.
The REM2 will follow René-Lévesque boulevard, Notre-Dame and then split in two branches:
- the Pointe-aux-Trembles (PAT) branch will follow Souligny and then continue on Sherbrooke towards PAT with an aerial structure.
- the North Branch will go up Dickson / Lacordaire, will have a station near Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital and will then dive underground and go to Montréal-Nord / Rivière-des-Prairies, with a terminus near Cégep Marie-Victorin.
The aesthetics of this aerial structure on René-Lévesque, right in the middle of the city centre, would be an essential element of the project and would possibly be the subject of an international invitation to tender for the architectural aspect.