The line of the future station of the Metropolitan Express Network (REM) fell victim to an arson attack in the Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grace metropolis early Tuesday morning. The police have started investigations. Damage is estimated at several hundred thousand dollars.
The Montreal Police Service (SPVM) reported being called to the Canora station in the Glenmount district just before 1 a.m. Tuesday. An eyewitness reported the fire from the footbridge above the station to the police.
Formerly used by passenger trains, 7300 km is located in Kanora and is currently under construction to be integrated into REM soon. The station should theoretically open in 2024, when REM sections in the north, center and west of the island are planned to serve.
During the 911 call, witnesses told law enforcement that a fire had broken out on the railing. At the site, officers on the first patrol quickly discovered “incendiary materials” placed on a fiber optic line, SPVM spokeswoman Marion Allaire-Morin noted.
Fortunately, the fire was quickly brought under control by firefighters, but the damage to railway equipment was “significant”, Ms said.me Allaire Morin. “It could be expensive,” he explained, though did not go ahead with detailed costings.
However, according to our sources, the total damage is estimated at a few hundred thousand dollars. Note: Control boxes were also damaged in the fire. On the way from PresOn Tuesday, green tar was applied to the damaged tracks and workers were there to secure the scene.
An open criminal investigation
According to SPVM, it was an arson attack. However, no suspect has yet been identified and no arrests have been made at the time of the incident. “However, there are several cameras on the scene, so we still have a lot of verification to do,” Agent Allaire-Morin said Tuesday.
No one was injured during the incident as the station is currently decommissioned and undergoing construction. Expertise of the scene is underway at the SPVM arson unit, which will take charge of the case along with the REM team for the rest of the process.
REM, a subsidiary of the Caisse depot that manages CDPQ infra, said on Tuesday it would not comment on the matter “due to the ongoing police investigation”, although it noted that only the track was affected in a “detour”. It is not known what impact this fire will have on ongoing work or the schedule.
CDPQ Infra announced in June 2022 that the delivery of 18 REM stations downtown in the western and northern crown of the island will be postponed again. For now, it will have to wait until at least the end of 2024, with the site still hit hard by the July 2020 discovery of a century of explosives in the Mount Royal tunnel. As for the line connecting the airport to Downtown, delivery is only planned for 2027, with construction of the station initially expected to last until 2026.
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