Metro update: Service on green line restored after water leak

Service on the green line was restored Saturday morning after multiple disruptions on the Metro over a 24-hour period caused chaos for public transit users.

The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) said in an update on social media at 6:30 a.m. that the trains were back up and running between Angrignon and Berri-UQAM stations. Service was interrupted at 10:30 a.m. Friday.

The cause of the interruption was an early-morning water main break in Westmount. The pipe burst on Maisonneuve Boulevard, between Elm and Greene avenues near Lionel-Groulx station, sending gushing water underground and onto the Metro tracks, the STM said. 

"Emergency action was taken to try to limit water infiltration and pump out as much as possible, but the problem persists, mainly because of the high flow rate from the aqueduct network," the STM said in a notice on its website Friday evening.

Hordes of people were forced above ground to catch a shuttle bus.

Public transit users in Montreal were hit with major headaches on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024 after both the green line and REM were down. (CTV News)

Here is a recap of what happened to the green line:

The first service issue happened at 5:37 a.m. Friday when officials said there was "water infiltration" in the tunnel. Service was back up and running by 7 a.m., but then the STM said there was a "train breakdown" just before 9:30 a.m. Normal operations resumed about 15 minutes later.

Then, another breakdown was reported on the green line at 10:33 a.m. again for water infiltration.

REM had breakdown two days in a row

It wasn't just the Metro that was causing transit troubles for commuters on Friday. Strong wind gusts forced part of the REM to go offline for part of the day, making it the second day in a row there was a disruption on the tracks.

The bad weather interrupted service between Panama and Central station for two hours, with the trains back up and running by around 2 p.m.