(Quebec) The multinational Alstom presented Friday sketches of the future tramway of Quebec, which will be partly produced at its factory in La Pocatière.
The French company presented three sketches of the vehicle which should come into operation in 2029 in the capital. All three liveries are similar, with black cars punctuated with blue light.
Citizens will be asked to choose between three very similar looking sketches. “We are going to hold a consultation, we are going to see the citizens, show them the three possible scenarios. […] People are going to vote,” said the mayor of Quebec, Bruno Marchand.
Quebec agreed in February with Alstom for the purchase of 34 trains at a cost of 569 million. The City initially thought of spending $400 million.
The trains will be Citadis Spirit, with a capacity of 272 passengers per train. This is the fourth project in Canada to use this particular model.
Ottawa’s light rail, which has had several failures, uses this same model. Alstom said Friday that the Quebec tramway will be made with cold-resistant materials. Several elements will be heated, such as the door sills, which will prevent them from getting stuck, as has sometimes happened in Ottawa.
“Alstom has solutions in several Nordic countries. We are in Edmonton, but also in Finland, Sweden and Poland,” said Jean-François Packwood, project manager for the Quebec tramway at Alstom. “The Québec tramway will be able to cope with the weather conditions in Québec. »
The presentation of the sketches by Alstom is of course conditional on the completion of the project. The City is currently negotiating with two consortia for the largest contract of the project, namely the infrastructures, including the 1.8 km tunnel which must link the Upper Town to the Lower Town.
Currently, the Quebec tramway project is valued at $3.9 billion. But observers expect the final cost to be higher. The provincial and federal governments have already committed to fund most of the costs.
More details to come.