A major disruption in Montreal’s light-rail network on Thursday morning is believed to have been caused by a lightning strike near the Champlain Bridge. The REM service between Brossard and Cote-de-Liesse stations experienced an outage for several hours, leading to delays across other parts of the network.
According to Jean-Nicolas Aubé, the spokesperson for Pulsar, the company operating the REM, the lightning strike occurred around 8 a.m., resulting in a power loss. Technicians are currently investigating the precise location where the lightning struck and its impact on the service disruption.
While most trains were stationary at stations when the lightning struck, some trains near Île-des-Sœurs station had to be evacuated. Aubé mentioned the challenges faced during the storm, highlighting the efforts of the teams to assist in evacuating passengers, which was completed by around 9:30 a.m.
Aubé also recalled a similar incident last summer when a thunderstorm led to a Hydro-Québec outage in the West Island, affecting REM service as well. Technical staff are now working to determine the exact circumstances surrounding this recent disruption.