\t\t\t\t\t Quebec political parties have suggested different ideas<\/a> to improve maintenance and service quality in Montreal\u2019s public transit during this provincial election campaign. Most have not yet specified how much they would spend on the metro.<\/p>\n Alexandre Leduc, the Qu\u00e9bec solidaire (QS) candidate for Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, raised concerns about current maintenance issues with the Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 de transport de Montr\u00e9al (STM). He said Montreal\u2019s metro system is the backbone of public transit, describing the lack of infrastructure investment as a structural infrastructure deficit.<\/p>\n \u201cAlmost half of stations have been used more than their supposed life,\u201d Leduc said. \u201cThey are in danger of falling down on people. Obviously, they need urgent repairs.\u201d<\/p>\n The STM\u2019s 2026-2027 pre-budget report<\/a> pointed out a $7 billion investment shortfall for maintenance, with 46 per cent of its metro assets in \u201cbad or very bad\u201d condition. It says this situation has led to more breakdowns and emergency closures for repairs.<\/p>\n The same report shows that the Quebec government’s overall spending on asset maintenance rose 67 per cent. In comparison, public transit asset maintenance funding has dropped by 21 per cent, or 47 per cent after adjusting for inflation, since 2018.<\/p>\n The STM has seen a decrease in service since 2019 and aims to reach a three-year $100 million recurring expense cut<\/a> by 2026, according to Radio-Canada.<\/p>\n Leduc said Montreal’s public transit needs a larger budget and more employees to improve the quality of its infrastructure and operations.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there has been a difficult situation because the government of Quebec didn’t give enough money for public transit,\u201d Leduc said.<\/p>\n \t\t\t \t\t\t\tA board temporarily covers a section of the ceiling that collapsed at the Place-des-Arts Metro station. Photo Moon Jinseok<\/p>\n Fewer riders, old infrastructure<\/p>\n Jean-Philippe Meloche, a professor at the \u00c9cole d’urbanisme et d’architecture de paysage \u00e0 l’Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al, said that maintaining infrastructure and service quality will be difficult if the inflation rate exceeds the investment in public transit.<\/p>\n \u201cIt might be possible to cut some small extra services that don’t necessarily affect the quality of the transportation services,\u201d Meloche said. \u201cIt might be able to make some efficiency gains with these cuts, but most of the time, it doesn’t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Meloche said the STM needs to repair its aging infrastructure, even as the Montreal public transit system faces financial troubles caused by a decrease in demand.<\/p>\n About 294 million metro and bus trips were recorded in 2025, down<\/a>\u00a06.6 per cent from 2024, which the STM attributed partly to strikes<\/a>, while nearly 375 million were made<\/a>\u00a0in 2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n The STM has reduced<\/a>\u00a0annual spending by $56.5 million largely through a hiring freeze, outsourcing some paratransit services and reducing some maintenance activities, according to CBC News.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s really tough right now for the STM to reduce its expenditure if we have some challenges in infrastructure maintenance,\u201d Meloche said.<\/p>\n Will strikes disrupt public transit again?<\/p>\n Leduc said the Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec (CAQ) government\u2019s Law 14<\/a>, introduced as Bill 89, produced a \u201cweird tactic\u201d during last year\u2019s strike<\/a> of STM maintenance workers.<\/p>\n Law 14 grants the labour minister the authority to direct a labour dispute to an arbitrator, which can be used to end<\/a>\u00a0a strike. Labour Minister Jean Boulet tried to implement<\/a> Law 14 earlier in November 2025 to stop the STM maintenance workers\u2019 strike.<\/p>\n Leduc said that the main reason for the STM strike was subcontracting<\/a> to the private sector.<\/p>\n \u201cI’m confident that with a new government [it] would be easier to negotiate with the unions so that we could avoid any other strikes in public transit in the future,\u201d Leduc said.<\/p>\n The STM and maintenance workers’ union reached an agreement<\/a> in principle in March this year after two years of negotiations, according to Le Devoir.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\u201cAlmost half of stations have been used more than their supposed life. They are in danger of falling down on people. Obviously, they need urgent repairs.\u201d Which party has a price tag?<\/p>\n QS urged addressing deferred maintenance and labour issues in Montreal’s public transit by increasing resources and proposing<\/a>\u00a0a $23 billion public transit investment over 10 years.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois government will also increase efforts to properly maintain Montreal’s metro infrastructure<\/a>,\u201d PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said on Sept. 21. \u201cIt includes launching the major project to replace the aging MR-73 trains, which are nearing the end of their service life.\u201d<\/p>\n In a 2025 presentation to Montreal’s executive committee, the STM preliminarily estimated<\/a>\u00a0$8 billion to $10 billion for modernizing the metro, including replacing trains and upgrading the train-control system.<\/p>\n The PQ and St-Pierre Plamondon did not respond to The Link’s request for comment.<\/p>\n The Parti lib\u00e9ral du Qu\u00e9bec (PLQ) promised<\/a>\u00a0\u201csustainable and predictable\u201d public transit funding, suggesting renovation and modernization of the metro system through a partnership with the City of Montreal, without specifying the cost.<\/p>\n The PLQ and its candidate for Notre-Dame-de-Gr\u00e2ce, Desir\u00e9e McGraw, did not respond to The Link’s request for comment.<\/p>\n The CAQ and the Parti conservateur du Qu\u00e9bec both proposed a larger share of the Plan qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois des infrastructures for asset maintenance: from 71 per cent to 75 per cen<\/a>t and 80 per cent<\/a>, respectively. However, neither has suggested anything specific for metro maintenance.<\/p>\n The Quebec election is scheduled for Oct. 5.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The STM has faced financial difficulties, and most parties are putting forward different ideas NewsMoon Jinseok \u2014 Published…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":921124,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338],"class_list":["post-921123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-montreal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=921123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/921123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/921124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=921123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=921123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=921123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/JM26_1002_STM_Namur_0001_900_602_90.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\tAn escalator at the Namur Metro station has broken down repeatedly over one year despite multiple repairs. Photo Moon Jinseok<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/JM26_1002_STM_PDA_0001_900_600_90.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\u2014 Alexandre Leduc, Qu\u00e9bec solidaire (QS) candidate for Hochelaga-Maisonneuve<\/p>\n