I come from a city where the tram was king, Prague. You will tell me that this is dated, but the disadvantages remain.
The construction of the tram network will present a major disruption to Quebec City. The catenaries will disfigure the urban landscape; ground power would incur an additional cost. Maintenance and repairs to the electrical power rail under the tram would be costly, especially in our northern environment with snow and ice. Furthermore, any obstacle in front of a tram train causes the entire network to stop, because the tram, caught in its rails, cannot bypass this obstacle, unlike the bus. Just like a bus, the tram must cross streets and traffic flow is not necessarily improved. Finally, the rails present a danger of skidding for cyclists, unless they always ride parallel to the rails, which would be quite unusual.
I wonder why we don’t give more consideration to a network of electric buses, which are less expensive, less disruptive and quicker to set up than the tramway.
To watch on video