Quebec unveils new details about future Quebec City tramway

The Quebec government released new information about the name of Quebec City's future tramway and the timeline for the project.

Construction is scheduled to start in summer 2027, with the tramway opening in 2033, announced Quebec Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault on Monday morning.

The project's timeline has been extended several times already. In June, Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand expressed his wish to see it in operation by 2030.

The tramway will be known as TramCité, according to Guilbault.

"We decided to come up with a much more instinctive and interesting name," she said.

Quebec City's tramway is expected to go through 13 neighbourhoods. After years of uncertainty, the project received the green light from the Legault government last April.

In June, CDPQ Infra, which is a subsidiary of Quebec's public pension fund manager and specializes in major infrastructure projects, presented its plan for the Circuit intégré de transport express (CITÉ).

The tramway network would be made up of two lines. One would run east to west across 19 kilometres, linking the Le Gendre, Sainte-Foy, Saint-Roch and Charlesbourg sectors in phase one.

The project was first envisioned in 2018 by Mayor Régis Labeaume's administration.

A north-south line would span seven kilometres and link Quebec City to Lévis, Que., on the South Shore.

Jonatan Julien, the minister responsible for infrastructure, believes this $7.6-billion project will contribute to the economic development of the region, with new shops, services and housing around the tramway.

"I'm from Quebec City. My children are growing up in Quebec City, and to see investments like these in our beautiful region, paving the way for extraordinary socio-economic development, well, it means a lot to me," said Julien. 

Marchand expressed his pride in the initiative and highlighted the need for such a project. 

"Quebec City has no choice but to improve mobility throughout its territory, and the Plan Cité is part of the solution," he said, citing figures showing an increase in his city's attractiveness and traffic.