Metro Service Disrupted Amid Evacuations in Montreal Due to Chili Powder Scare

MONTREAL, Canada — Metro service was suspended across all orange, yellow, and green lines during rush hour on Monday due to a potential chili powder incident, leading to the evacuation of 21 stations.

The service outage lasted about 20 minutes, resuming at 6:45 p.m. Only trains on the blue line continued to operate during this interruption. According to the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), no injuries were reported.

All stations on the orange line between Beaubien and Lucien L’allier were evacuated, as were the stations from Guy-Concordia to Préfontaine on the green line, along with the Jean-Drapeau station on the yellow line. This was the second disruption across these lines on Monday, following an earlier 15-minute service interruption due to electrical equipment issues around 10 a.m.

In recent years, deliberate use of irritants like chili powder has become more common in Montreal‘s metro system, frequently halting entire lines. Urgences-santé advises that in the presence of an irritant gas, the first step is to exit the station and seek fresh air. Typical symptoms from exposure include coughing, breathing difficulty, and irritation to the eyes, skin, and respiratory tract.

As reported by La Presse in 2023, the problem of irritant gases in the metro system has been growing. Following the service disruptions, CDPQ Infra, the subsidiary managing the Réseau express métropolitain (REM), announced that normal service levels would gradually return. The light rail will now operate between 5:30 a.m. and 8:40 p.m. Monday to Friday, having previously only run during rush hours.

CDPQ Infra posted on social media, stating, “Good news. Our teams are currently testing extended service hours. The REM will now be open between 5:30 a.m. and 8:20 p.m. towards Central Station and until 8:40 p.m. towards A1-Brossard on weekdays.” Until now, the train had only operated during peak hours, from 5:30 a.m. to 10 a.m., and from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.

All shuttle services with enhanced routing will continue to operate, both during rush hours and off-peak. The numbered circuits 720, 721, 722, and 568 remain free until further notice. After weeks of disruptions, the situation appears to be stabilizing in the REM, with the last major outage on March 4.

During peak hours on Monday, trains ran every 4 minutes, closely matching the promised interval of 3 minutes and 30 seconds. However, it remains unclear when a complete return to normal service can be expected.

Service slowdowns had plagued the light rail nearly every day for several weeks. From late January to late February, there were ten disrupted days, marking nearly one in two days since the light rail does not operate on weekends to migrate control centers to future west and north extensions. Track issues caused several service interruptions, but the REM’s managing group has since stated that additional heating capacity has been installed on the South Shore branch. Many “sustainable fixes” will also be made to braking systems to reduce maintenance needs by the end of April. The brakes on the cars require more frequent repairs in winter, affecting their availability.