The Quebec government is being urged to increase its investment in public transit after three Montreal subway stations were forced to close suddenly on Thursday night for emergency repairs on a degraded beam.
Montreal’s public transit authority says the Fabre, d'Iberville and Saint-Michel stations will be shut for days or weeks to work on the beam located above a pedestrian walkway.
Société de transport de Montréal CEO Marie-Claude Léonard says the problem is found only at the St-Michel station, but the other two stations needed to be closed as well because they don’t have the infrastructure to turn the trains around.
Both Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante and the transit authority pointed the finger at the province, accusing Premier François Legault’s government of failing to spend enough money on maintaining the aging network.
Éric Alan Caldwell, a Montreal city councillor and chairman of the transit agency’s board of directors, says the province is spending about $300 million to maintain the subway this year, which is far short of the $500 million or $550 million that’s needed annually.
Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault, who cancelled a planned transport announcement in Montreal today, said the province is working with municipal authorities and the transit agency to help address the problem.
