Interconnecting the REM: The station designs of Montreal’s new light metro system

Representing the beginning of what will be, when completed, one of the longest automated metro lines in the world, four of its inaugural stations on the Rive-Sud line—Brossard, Du Quartier, Panama, and Île-des-Sœurs—were designed by the Lemay, Bisson Fortin, Perkins&Will Consortium.

Marking a new era of public transit and urban mobility in Quebec and transforming the cityscape of Greater Montreal through architecture, landscapes, and urban design, these stations are unified under one founding principle: Providing efficient, reliable, safe, and universally accessible user experiences with a sustainable approach.

Connecting Brossard to Downtown Montreal, these stations were simultaneously designed to achieve a common and intuitive thread, bearing elements aimed at being immediately recognizable no matter where a train runs, or a passenger arrives or departs.

From one station to the next, vertical and horizontal lines give rhythm and a sense of movement. Made transparent for maximized interior and exterior views to enhance their sense of security, these public transportation landmarks are filled with natural light and feature wood in their forms. Each integrates sustainable strategies into their landscaping such as rainwater management and vegetation to reduce heat island effects, and use streamlined signage for optimal comprehension and circulation to enable a smooth flow of traffic.    

Setting a precedent for the light rail system’s future development with a mindset towards having space to grow, the adaptable layout of these stations can be adjusted to whatever their successors’ environments, landscapes, and building contexts will be. This extends to their typology as well, whether they are underground, aerial, or at-grade.

The REM may glide through the city, but it is grounded by these stations and their focus on sensitively designed works of quality which put people first.

Learn more about the project.