Montreal's new REM line takes wrong turn, leaves passengers stranded in the garage

After a night at the movies on Montreal's South Shore on Monday, Michel-André Grégoire and his wife got an exclusive tour of the city's new light-rail train garage, but all they really wanted was to go home.

After a night at the movies on Montreal's South Shore on Monday, Michel-André Grégoire and his wife got an exclusive tour of the city's new light-rail train garage, but all they really wanted was to go home.

The couple got stuck in the garage in Brossard, Que., because the train they boarded went the wrong way for reasons that remain a mystery.

"At the beginning, we were laughing about it. We said, 'Ok, we're going to sleep here and we'll take the first train out tomorrow morning and we'll go back home,'" said Grégoire in an interview Tuesday evening.

After watching a flick at Quartier Dix30, he and his wife boarded the train at the Du Quartier station around midnight to head back home to Nun's Island. Their late-night journey came at the end of the first official launch day for the new, automated light-rail line, the Réseau express métropolitain (REM).

They followed the signage to make sure they were on the right train. But after about 20 minutes, nothing happened. Then, a voice greeted them on the train: "Welcome to the REM. Next station: Panama." A reassuring message since the station after Panama was their final destination.

However, things took a turn for the worse. The train started to head in the opposite direction, back toward Brossard.