The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) has closed Fabre, d'Iberville and St-Michel métro stations as a preventive safety measure for an indefinite period. No trains will be stopping at the stations during the closure.
According to STM, work currently underway at Saint-Michel station has revealed significant degradation of some of the main beams above the footbridge, following assessment by the engineering teams. Given the location of the turnouts, STM notes Fabre and d'Iberville stations will also have to be closed.
Further assessments will have to be made to determine the structural work to be carried out, which is likely to take several days, if not weeks, according to the agency.
Mitigation measures now in place
To mitigate the impact of the closures, the STM is introducing a shuttle bus service (line 809) between Saint-Michel and Jean-Talon stations. On Oct. 7, the STM adjusted the route of the special bus shuttle in service between Saint-Michel and Jean-Talon stations to reduce travel time and improve the customer experience.
STM notes that although a bus service cannot completely replace the capacity and reliability of the metro, the agency has established a new route that will significantly reduce travel times thanks to a police presence at key locations and the collaboration of the city of Montreal, Quebec, and the affected boroughs.
The agency notes the buses are in service from the opening to the closing of the metro. The service and high frequency are adjusted in real time on the ground in order to deploy the vehicles optimally.
The importance of maintaining assets
The closure comes at a time when the STM has received confirmation of the absence of funding from the government of Quebec’s québécois des infrastructures plan for its asset maintenance and universal accessibility projects. Despite the STM's requests and representations, no additional credit has been granted by the provincial government in this area since 2022. To avoid an increase in STM’s investment deficit, C$560 million (US$412 million) a year would be needed to ensure the maintenance of aging assets and infrastructures that have reached the end of their useful life.
