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When the ground-breaking ceremony for the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) was held April 12 in Griffintown, West Island commuters could finally envision the future promise of putting their car keys in their pocket and taking a light-rail train downtown.

But initial enthusiasm for the REM, a 26-station system that will link downtown Montreal to the suburbs, including the West Island, has since given way to concerns about accessibility. More to the point: Where will motorists park if they want to drive to their nearest REM station and hop on this fab new train?

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Those concerns grew louder after it was announced last month that a 2,000-spot parking lot planned for the Kirkland station had been scrapped.

For lifelong West Islanders like Susan Roy, eliminating parking makes little sense and will only serve to discourage people from the REM’s main objective: to get people to take it.

“I wish commuters much luck in getting parking at the station,” said Roy, a Dorval resident who was left dumbstruck by the decision to delete parking from a 21st-century suburban transit plan.