From Stadacona to the REM · Drawing 35 of 36
The REM’s First Passengers
2023
In 2023, the REM welcomed its first passengers between Brossard and Montréal. This electric train drives itself, with no driver, and crosses the river on a tall bridge high above the water.
Look together
What can you see below the train?
An idea to try
Draw a river with a place on each side. Your child imagines a boat’s route and a train’s route, then explains what lets each one cross.
For the adult reading along
A little more to discover
The REM, Réseau express métropolitain, is a light metro that is fully electric and fully automated: no driver on board, the trains are run and monitored from a control centre. The first branch, between Brossard and Montréal’s Central Station, was inaugurated on July 28, 2023, and regular service began on July 31; the trains cross the river on the Samuel De Champlain Bridge, opened in 2019, in a reserved corridor in the middle of the deck. This page describes the 2023 opening, not the current or future state of the whole network.
The picture focuses on an electric train passing above the river. With your child, compare this trip with the boats in the book and look for what public transit connects. The drawing simplifies the train and the structure carrying it; it is neither an exact picture of the bridge nor a map of the lines.
Sources and illustration notes (4)
A simplified train and structure on supports; not an exact reconstruction of the Samuel De Champlain Bridge or today’s network.
These links lead to other websites. Explore them with an adult. References identify the institution and the related lesson; some linked pages are in French.
- REM — The REM ready to welcome first passengersBrossard–Gare Centrale branch inaugurated on July 28, 2023; discovery days on July 29–30; regular service from July 31, 2023.
- REM — Commissioning of the REMService between Brossard and Montréal in 2023.
- REM — Rolling stockAutomated driverless trains, operated from a control centre.
- Infrastructure Canada — Cahier de transition, octobre 2019, pont Samuel-De Champlain (in French)Opened to traffic in two stages, on June 24 and July 1, 2019; the central corridor reserved for the REM.
Page prepared on September 19, 2026. Illustrations simplify places and scenes; they are not historical documents.
This drawing is from the book Québec’s Great Moments to Colour
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