'We won't be reopening tomorrow morning': Montreal metro stations may be closed for weeks

Public transport users who regularly use Fabre, d'Iberville and Saint-Michel stations on the Montreal metro's blue line will have to be patient, as the emergency closure of the three stations announced on Thursday evening could stretch out over "a few days, or even a few weeks."

At a news scrum on Friday morning to explain why the three stations had to be closed indefinitely, the Director General of the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), Marie-Claude Léonard, warned that lengthy work would be required.

At Saint-Michel station, a "major deterioration" of a beam above the footbridge that allows passengers to cross over the metro's two tracks has been identified.

For safety reasons, the station had to be closed. Since the only other place available to allow trains continuing to serve the rest of the blue line to change tracks was at Jean-Talon station, Fabre and d'Iberville stations also had to be closed.

"Our civil engineering teams are investigating. We want to find out more about the causes. We want to better understand what it will take to make it safe and to be able to repair it," said Léonard. "We're going to try to do it as quickly as possible, but you have to understand that it's going to take a few days, if not a few weeks, so we won't be reopening tomorrow morning."

STM director general Marie-Claude Leonard gives an update on the Blue metro line closures that could last weeks. (Laurence Brisson Dubreuil)

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 4, 2024.