The long-awaited Anse-à-l’Orme branch of the Réseau express métropolitain enters into service next Monday, and will whisk passengers from Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue to downtown — and all the way to Brossard or Deux-Montagnes if they want to go.

The new light rail network was 10 years and $9 billion in the making — and the first new major public transit project in Montreal in decades. (The extension of the Blue Line of the métro is finally underway, but it won’t be operational until 2031.)

The shiny new REM is a welcome addition to Montreal’s transit landscape, despite some hiccups with reliability in the winter. And it stands in sharp contrast to the pitiful state of the existing transportation infrastructure, which has been badly neglected and will continue to degrade unless Quebec finds the funds and the political will to fix it.

The streets are so potholed in Montreal, Good Samaritans had to come to the rescue, patching them pro bono. Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada redoubled efforts last week to fill the endless craters, with Notre-Dame St. E. getting special attention. But it’s still a drop in the bucket.

Half the city’s métro stations are considered in poor shape. In 2024, three stations on the Blue Line were shuttered for weeks for urgent repairs.

Meanwhile, below ground, more than 10,000 kilometres of water mains are deteriorating, representing 10 per cent of Quebec’s water and sewer........

© Montreal Gazette