Quebec City Tramway

The Quebec City Tramway (Tramway de Québec) is a proposed light rail system in Quebec City.

Construction was planned to start in 2024, with a completion date of 2029. However, on November 9, 2023, Quebec premier François Legault made a last-minute announcement that he refused to fund the project right before the construction was set to start, despite years of preparation and political promise from his party Coalition Avenir Québec. He ordered the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) to take over the project from the city and conduct additional studies.

In June 2024, CDPQ Infra issued its plan for higher-order public transit in Quebec City to be called Circuit Intégré De Transport Express (CITÉ). It proposed 100 km of public transit corridors including 35 km of tram lines and over 35 km of bus rapid transit. The total estimated cost (tram and BRT) would be $14.7 billion. The system would be implemented in three phases with the first phase to be completed in 2030. The Quebec provincial government has authorized the implementation of phase 1 of the tramway, which consists of a 19 km line running from Le Gendre to Charlesbourg.

A former streetcar system existed in the city between 1865 and 1948. It was electrified in 1897.

History

 * 2000: The Ministère des Transports du Québec gives the RTC the mandate to carry out an opportunity and feasibility study for the insertion of a tramway along the Metrobus routes.
 * 2003: The study recommends the construction of a tramway network in the city.
 * 2005: The City adds the tramway to its 2005-2025 Master Development Plan.
 * 2010: The City committee for sustainable transport submit a report. It recommends to build a tramway line by 2030.
 * 2015: Second feasibility study. The City chooses bus rapid transit instead of tramway.
 * 2017: Six weeks after municipal elections, the reelected mayor (Régis Labeaume) goes back to a tramway concept.
 * 2021: The City launches the procurement process for the construction of the tramway.
 * 2023: The provincial government suspends the project and commissions the CDPQ to do further studies.
 * 2024: CDPQ Infra publishes a revised proposal for a tramway and bus rapid transit.

2003: First attempt
In 2003, the Réseau de transport de la Capitale publishes an opportunity and feasibility study on a light rail system following a government request in 2000. The study shows that a tramway system could be positive for the city. The initially presented project proposes to insert the tram along the existing 800 and 801 Metrobus axes. Those routes pass through high-population-density sectors. With a length of 21.5 km, the infrastructures would take four years to build. The service frequency would be 5 to 10 minutes.

2010: Project presented by the City Committee for sustainable transport


On June 10, 2010, the City Committee for sustainable transport recommended to build two tramway lines for $1.5 billion. The first line would be 22.6 km long. Starting on the Saint Lawrence south shore, trams would cross the Quebec Bridge, then run along Laurier Boulevard, going through the Laval University campus, down Côte Nérée-Tremblay, along Charest Boulevard to the Quebec Courthouse. From there, they would go north, taking Capucins Boulevard and Chemin de la Canardière to finally end in the future D'Estimauville Ecodistrict. The second line would separate from the first line in Saint-Roch neighbourhood to service Quebec Parliament Hill with a final stop near the Grand Théâtre de Québec. That line, 6.6 km long, would link the Grand Théâtre to Charlesbourg. It would pass through Pointe-aux-Lièvres, ExpoCité to Galeries Charlesbourg. A possible extension would be in the Upper town in the direction of Sainte-Foy.

This project was finally abandoned in 2015 in favour of bus rapid transit (SRB). The bus project was in turn cancelled in April 2017 following the withdrawal of the Lévis municipal authorities.

2018: Structure-enhancing public transit network
In December 2017, a few weeks after the November municipal elections, reelected Mayor Régis Labeaume said his election promise for a new transport system would after all take the form of a light rail system. The current political context enables a great investment from provincial and federal governments in public transit, unlike the 2010 project.

In March 2018, the City, along with the Government of Quebec, announced the construction of a 23 km-long tramway line for $3 billion. At that time, the line would link Charlesbourg to Cap-Rouge, passing through Quebec Parliament Hill via a 3.5 km tunnel. The Quebec City tramway was to be in service in 2026.

2020–2021: Reassessment of tramway project
In November 2020, Quebec's environmental review board (BAPE, part of the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment, and Fight Against Climate Change) turned down Quebec City's $3.3-billion tramway project proposal. In the report, BAPE stated that planners should have also considered a subway or light rail system, rather than a tramway. The BAPE also states that the existing tramway proposal does not do enough to serve the city's suburbs, which are rapidly growing. Furthermore, BAPE questioned whether a tramway system could cope with the city's winter weather or how it would be integrated into the landscape. Quebec's Transport Minister, François Bonnardel, announced that the government was withdrawing the support for Quebec City's proposed tramway network, which he said will not go ahead unless it is reconfigured to better serve the suburbs.

2021–2023: Failed project start
As of March 18, 2021, an agreement was reached to move the tramway project forward. The eastern terminus became D'Estimauville instead of Charlesbourg, and reserved bus lanes would be added on highways to suburban Haute-Saint-Charles. The province promised $1.8 billion in financing for the tramway, the federal government promised $1.2 billion, and Quebec City would contribute $300 million. In June 2021, the opposition party in Quebec City, Quebec 21, proposed a light metro in place of a tramway revival, a proposal rejected by the mayor.

By January 2022, the project costs had increased by $600 million due to a late project start, inflation and increased costs to acquire land. The projected cost was approaching $4 billion.

In April 2022, Quebec City started the selection process for a supplier of light-rail vehicles. In February 2023, Alstom Transport Canada Inc. was the successful bidder. Besides supplying the vehicles, Alstom would have also maintained them for 30 years. The contract called for the construction of 34 Citadis Spirit LRVs with an option for 5 more to handle any increase in ridership. The contract was worth $1.34 billion of which $569 million was for building the vehicles and $768 million was for 30 years of maintenance. Vehicle maintenance was not considered part of the $4 billion capital cost of the line. The Réseau de transport de la Capitale (RTC) agreed to pay about $25 million per year for vehicle maintenance. The vehicles were to be assembled at Alstom's factory in La Pocatière starting as early as November 2023. Alstom would provide operator training for RTC staff.

In April 2023, the city announced that construction would start in 2024 instead of the summer of 2023, thus the projected project completion date had become 2029 instead of 2028.

By November 2023, the estimated cost of the tramway had reached $8.4 billion. Quebec City mayor Bruno Marchand proposed a three-stage implementation of the line. Eastward from Pôle Le Gendre, stage 1 would run to Université Laval, stage 2 to Jean-Paul-L’Allier, and stage 3 to Pôle D'Estimauville. The first stage would open in 2029, and the entire line would be complete by 2031. There was the possibility of multiple consortia being involved in the project.

On November 9, 2023, Quebec premier François Legault suspended the project just before construction was to begin. He ordered the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) to take over the project and conduct additional studies.

2024–present: CITÉ
In June 2024, CDPQ Infra issued its plan for higher-order public transit in Quebec City to be called Circuit Intégré De Transport Express (CITÉ). It proposed 100 km of public transit corridors including 35 km of tram lines and over 35 km of bus rapid transit. The total estimated cost (for both the tramway and BRT) would be $14.7 billion.

The system would be implemented in three phases. For the tramway, phase 1 would include a 19 km line from Le Gendre via Sainte-Foy, Université Laval, Colline Parlementaire and Saint-Roch to Charlesbourg. Phase 1 would be built between 2024 and 2030. Phase 2 would provide a branch to D’Estimauville and would be constructed between 2030 and 2035. Phase 3 would include a branch line to Lebourgneuf. This would result in a total of 28 km of tramway with an estimated cost of $7 billion (in 2024 dollars). Also, as part of phase 3, there would be a 7 km tramway line running from downtown Québec City to downtown Lévis via a tunnel under the St. Lawrence River costing about $4 billion. Phase 3 would be built starting 2035. \\

The CITÉ plan had some differences from the suspended 2021 plan:
 * CITÉ would give priority to build a branch to Charlesbourg over a branch to D'Estimauville.
 * CITÉ would prefer trams 35–40 metres long while the city has ordered trams from Alstom with a length of about 47 metres.
 * CITÉ would avoid surface stops with parallel side platforms to reduce the width of the right-of-way.
 * CITÉ would use trams equipped with batteries so that the overhead wire could be omitted along certain portions of the line.

With the release of the SDPQ Infra report, the Quebec provincial government authorized the implementation of phase 1 of the tramway.

Stations

 * This section does not reflect any changes proposed by CDPQ Infra in June 2024.

The Quebec City Tramway is a 19.3 km light-rail line running between the city districts of Cap-Rouge in the west and Maizerets in the east. The line will have 29 stations of which two will be underground. Five of the stations will be designated as transfer hubs (French: pôles d’échanges). The average distance between stations will be 690 m.

The following table lists stations from west to east. Stations use one of the following platform configurations:
 * Centre: centre or island platform serving both tracks
 * Parallel: two parallel side platforms facing one another directly opposite each other
 * Offset: two side platforms each located separately at different sides of an intersection

Pôle de Sainte-Foy
The Sainte-Foy transfer hub will be located within the quadrilateral bounded by the streets: Avenue Lavigerie, Route de l’Église, Boulevard Laurier and Boulevard Hochelaga. The station will have a large passenger building covering the tramway tracks and platform. The building will have a heated waiting area, washrooms, and ticketing and information facilities. The hub will have two bus terminals, one for RTC buses on the west side of the tracks, and another for STLévis buses on the east side. (Sixty percent of station ridership is expected to come by bus from the city of Lévis.) There will be with 7 bays for buses coming from the west and 5 bays for those coming from the east. The hub will also have a bicycle parking area.

Tunnel

 * This section does not reflect any changes proposed by CDPQ Infra in June 2024.

There will be a 1.8 km long tunnel under the city district Saint-Jean-Baptiste, connecting the upper to lower town. The upper tunnel portal will be opposite the Grand Théâtre de Québec near the intersection of Boulevard René-Lévesque Est and Avenue Turnbull. The lower portal will be in Rue de la Couronne on the west side of Jardin Jean-Paul-L'Allier. The tunnel will be 15 m to 40 m below the surface. A tunnel would avoid the steep grades that would result from a line built on the surface. The floor slabs at the tunnel portals will have heaters to melt snow in winter.

The tunnel will have two underground stations: Colline parlementaire and D'Youville. These two stations will have a few common characteristics. Both are designed by the architect Anouk Boucher-Pilon and will feature wood, ample window lighting and mural art. Both stations will have stairs, escalators and at least one elevator. Each station will have only one entrance. Station ventilation will be via the tunnel portals; normally there will be no other ventilation within the stations. In case of fire, people could evacuate via the tunnel portals; there will be ventilators to clear smoke.

The entrance to the station Colline Parlementaire will be located in front of the Marie-Guyart Building between Boulevard René-Lévesque and Promenade des Premiers-Ministres. The entrance building will have exterior walls clad in limestone and a green roof.

The entrance to the station D'Youville will be located at the intersection of Rue Saint-Joachim and Avenue Honoré-Mercierin, and will be accessible from Rue Saint-Jean and Avenue Honoré-Mercierin. The entrance building will be clad in brick and have a partially green roof. The exit at Rue Saint-Jean will be in an existing building.

Operations

 * This section does not reflect any changes proposed by CDPQ Infra in June 2024.

Frequency of service along the line Would be every 4 to 8 minutes in peak periods. Tramway service [Alstom Citadis Spirit]] operate from 5AM to 1AM. The line Alstom Citadis Spirit have a maximum capacity of 4,080 passengers per hour. Trams [Alstom Citadis Spirit]] operate in reserved lanes and have priority at traffic lights.

A trip between Université Laval and D’Estimauville is estimated to take 43 minutes by Métrobus with a variation of -2 to +10 minutes. The same trip by tramway would take 25 minutes with a maximum variation of +2 minutes.

The maximum tram speed would vary depending on the location of the right-of-way. Off street, such as between Chaudière and McCartney stations or in the tunnel, the maximum speed would be 70 kph. But where the street space is closely shared with pedestrians such as between Jean-Paul-L'Allier and Pôle de Saint-Roch, the maximum speed would be 30 kph. On a boulevard, the maximum speed would be 50 kph such as between CHUL and Place Sainte-Foy stations. On narrower arteries, the maximum speed would be 40 kph.

The line would use 34 Alstom Citadis Spirit vehicles. Each vehicle would consist of 4 modules, be 47 m long and have 7 doors on each side with a capacity of 272 passengers, 4 times the capacity of a regular bus. The trams were expected to accommodate 3.3 passengers per square metre.

The Operation and Maintenance Centre (French: Centre d'exploitation et d'entretien – CEE) would be located along Rue Mendel between the stations Pôle Le Gendre and Chaudière. The site occupies an area of 3.62 ha. A U-shaped building would provide indoor vehicle storage as well as maintenance functions such as motor repairs, paint shop, vehicle wash and the repair of doors, windows, air conditioning or light fixtures. The facility would also contain a control centre to monitor operation of the line.