Overnight maintenance work delays REM network opening on Saturday

Montreal's light-rail network was shuttered for nearly three hours past when it was expected to open Saturday morning, after planned maintenance work overnight took longer than planned.

Work on the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) was expected to lead to late openings this weekend, with service scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, and noon on Sunday.

But the trains across the entire network remained out of service until just past 10 a.m. due to work carried out by an external partner, REM operator Pulsar said in a statement to CBC.

Pulsar added that the work was necessary before service could be fully restored.

In a social media post, Pulsar said its external partner will look into what caused the delayed opening to prevent future issues.

More work is expected to take place Sunday, with train service resuming at 12 p.m. Shuttle buses will be running during that time.

The REM has scheduled delayed network openings on weekends between June 6 and August 16.