Quebec City Tramway

The Quebec City Tramway is a proposed light rail system in Quebec City, which will be known as TramCité.
Construction was planned to start in 2024, with a completion date of 2029. However, on November 9, 2023, Quebec premier François Legault paused the project, and ordered the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec 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. It proposed of public transit corridors including of tram lines and over of bus rapid transit. The total estimated cost would be $14.7 billion. The Quebec provincial government has authorized the implementation of phase 1 of the tramway, which consists of a line running from Le Gendre to Charlesbourg., construction is expected to start in 2027 with the line going into service in 2033.

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 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.
First attempt (2003)

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, the infrastructures would take four years to build. The service frequency would be 5 to 10 minutes.

Project presented by the City Committee for sustainable transport (2010)

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 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, 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. The bus project was in turn cancelled in April 2017 following the withdrawal of the Lévis municipal authorities.

Structure-enhancing public transit network (2018)

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 -long tramway line for $3 billion. At that time, the line would link Charlesbourg to Cap-Rouge, passing through Quebec Parliament Hill via a tunnel. The Quebec City tramway was to be in service in 2026.

Reassessment of tramway project (2020–2021)

In November 2020, Quebec's environmental review board 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.

Failed project start (2021–2023)

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 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 to take over the project and conduct additional studies.

CITÉ (2024–present)

In June 2024, CDPQ Infra issued its plan for higher-order public transit in Quebec City to be called Circuit Intégré De Transport Express. It proposed of public transit corridors including of tram lines and over of bus rapid transit. The total estimated cost would be $14.7 billion.
The system would be implemented in three phases. For the tramway, phase 1 would include a line from Le Gendre via Sainte-Foy, Université Laval, Colline Parlementaire and Saint-Roch to Charlesbourg. Phase 2 would provide a branch to D’Estimauville. Phase 3 would include a branch line to Lebourgneuf. This would result in a total of of tramway with an estimated cost of $7 billion. Also, as part of phase 3, there would be a tramway line running from downtown Québec City to downtown Lévis via a tunnel under the St. Lawrence River costing about $4 billion.
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 CDPQ Infra report, the Quebec provincial government authorized the implementation of phase 1 of the tramway. In December 2024, the tram line was given the name TramCité. Construction of phase 1 is expected to start in 2027 with the line going into service in 2033.

Stations

The Quebec City Tramway will be a light-rail line running between the city districts of Cap-Rouge in the west and Charlesbourg in the east. The line will have 29 stations of which two will be underground in a tunnel. Five of the stations will be designated as transfer hubs.

Station	Type	Map	Nearest intersection	City quarter	Connections
Pôle Le Gendre	surface		Av. Blaise Pascal & Av. Le Gendre,	Cap-Rouge	hub: 7 bus bays
Chaudière	surface		Rue Mendel & Boul. de la Chaudière,	Cap-Rouge
McCartney	surface		Av. McCartney & Boul. Pie-XII	Sainte-Foy	Buses
Pie-XII	surface		Ch. des Quatre-Bourgeois & Boul. Pie-XII	Sainte-Foy
Bégon	surface		Ch. des Quatre-Bourgeois & Av. Bégon	Sainte-Foy
Duchesneau	surface		Ch. des Quatre-Bourgeois & Av. Duchesneau	Sainte-Foy
Roland-Beaudin	surface		Parc Roland-Beaudin	Sainte-Foy
Pôle de Sainte-Foy	surface		Boul. Laurier	Sainte-Foy	hub: 12 bus bays
CHUL	surface		Boul. Laurier	CHUL
Place Sainte-Foy	surface		Boul. Laurier	Place Ste-Foy
Pôle de l'Université Laval	surface		Av. de la Medicine	Université Laval	hub: 16 bus bays
Desjardins	surface		Rue de l'Université	Université Laval
Myrand	surface		Boul. René-Lévesque & Av. Myrand	Université Laval
Maguire	surface		Boul. René-Lévesque & Av. Maguire	Université Laval
Holland	surface		Boul. René-Lévesque & Av. Holland	Sillery/Saint-Sacrement
Collège Saint-Charles-Garnier	surface		Boul. René-Lévesque	St. Charles Garnier College
Belvédère	surface		Boul. René-Lévesque & Av. Belvédère	Sillery/Saint-Sacrement/Montcalm
Brown	surface		Boul. René-Lévesque & Av. Brown	Montcalm
Cartier	surface		Boul. René-Lévesque & Av. Cartier	Montcalm
Colline parlementaire	underground		Boul. René-Lévesque	Colline Parlementaire	Buses
D'Youville	underground		near Place d'Youville	Vieux-Québec	Buses
Jean-Paul-L'Allier	surface		Boulevard Charest E & Rue Couronne	Saint-Roch	Buses
Pôle de Saint-Roch	surface		Rue de la Croix-Rouge & Autoroute Laurentienne	Saint-Roch	hub: 18 bus bays
9e Rue	surface		1re Avenue & 9e Rue	Vieux-Limoilou
Hôpital Saint-François D'Assise	surface		1re Avenue	Hôpital Saint-François d'Assise Vieux-Limoilou
18e Rue	surface		1re Avenue & 18e Rue	Lairet	Buses
24e Rue	surface		1re Avenue & 24e Rue	Lairet
Peupliers	surface		1re Avenue & Rue des Peupliers	Lairet
Pôle De Charlesbourg	surface		1re Avenue & 41e Rue	Saint-Rodrigue	hub: Buses