Griffintown–Bernard-Landry station

Griffintown–Bernard-Landry is a planned Réseau express métropolitain station in the borough of Le Sud-Ouest in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is planned to be operated by CDPQ Infra and serve as a station on the South Shore branch of the REM.[1]

Griffintown–Bernard-Landry
Location	Dalhousie Street, Griffintown, Montreal Quebec Canada
Coordinates	45.4963°N 73.5588°W
Operated by	CDPQ Infra
Platforms	2
Connections	STM buses
History
Opening	2023
Future services
Preceding station REM Following station Central Station toward Deux-Montagnes, Anse-à-l'Orme or Airport Réseau express métropolitain Île-des-Soeurs toward Brossard

Location

Proposed location on Peel Bassin

The station was initially tentatively named Bassin Peel station and was planned to be located on the Peel Basin of the Lachine Canal, near the site of the former Goose Village neighbourhood. There was speculation that the Peel Basin would serve as the future site for a baseball stadium serving as a home for a Major League Baseball based in Montreal. On February 12, 2019, the group seeking the return of an MLB team to Montreal, led by Stephen Bronfman, registered Pierre Boivin, the former president of the Montreal Canadiens, as a lobbyist to negotiate the sale of the Peel Basin to build a stadium. The land is currently under the control of the Canada Lands Company, a Federal Crown Corporation.[2]

Relocation to Griffintown and naming controversy

In November 2019, Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante first expressed a desire to name the station after the late Premier of Quebec, Bernard Landry, due to his involvement as Quebec's Minister of Finance, in the redevelopment of the area adjacent to Griffintown and the western portion of Old Montreal as the Cité du Multimédia, a business cluster for Information Technology companies.[3] This sparked a backlash from the city's Irish community.[4]

On June 23, 2020, it was announced that the station would be located on the Central Station train viaduct facing Dalhousie Street, between William Street and Ottawa Street in Griffintown.[5] It was also announced that the station would be named Griffintown–Bernard-Landry as a compromise but the name still proved controversial.[6]

References

1. https://www.cdpqinfra.com/en/content/r%C3%A9seau-%C3%A9lectrique-m%C3%A9tropolitain-rem-three-new-stations-downtown-montr%C3%A9al
2. https://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2019/02/12/stade-de-baseball--le-bassin-peel-choisi
3. "Valérie Plante veut qu'une station du REM rende hommage à Bernard Landry" (in French). Métro. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
4. "OTL Blog » Blog Archive » An Open Letter from a City of Montreal Ambassador to Mayor Valerie Plante RE: Griffintown REM Proposal and Negative International Reaction". Retrieved 2020-02-14.
5. "Griffintown–Bernard-Landry station unveiled". Réseau express métropolitain. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
6. Luft, Amy (22 June 2020). "Montreal's Irish community disappointed new REM station in Griffintown will be named after former premier Bernard Landry". Montreal.