Deal for an REM station could happen in November, Aéroports de Montréal says

Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport’s operator is optimistic a deal will soon be reached to finance the construction of a long-awaited light-rail station at the terminal.

“Talks are under way and they are advancing well,” Aéroports de Montréal chief executive officer Philippe Rainville said Monday during a panel discussion at the C2 Online conference. “We should have a solution by the end of November.”

He didn’t elaborate.

Federal Economic Development Minister Mélanie Joly said last month she and Transport Minister Marc Garneau had discussed financing for the airport’s Réseau express métropolitain station with Rainville.

Construction of the airport station is being privately funded by ADM, which has been hit hard by the pandemic. As of last month, ADM was forecasting a 71-per-cent drop in 2020 passenger traffic, resulting in a revenue shortfall of about $500 million.

Building the airport station could cost about $600 million, ADM spokesperson Anne-Sophie Hamel told the Montreal Gazette last month. ADM is seeking a $600-million loan from the federal and provincial governments to finance the project, Hamel said at the time.

CDPQ Infra, the light-rail system’s promoter, considers the airport station “to be very important for the project,” spokesperson Emmanuelle Rouillard-Moreau told the Montreal Gazette Monday via email. “We are therefore optimistic that ADM will find the financial solutions within the prescribed timeframe to meet its commitments toward the project.”