The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) will recommend a tramway for Quebec City on Wednesday, thus reviving a 20-year-old project. Summary of the adventures he went through, in fifteen key dates.
March 2003: The Capital Transport Network (RTC) is proposing to build a tramway at a cost of $650 million in six years. The latter would replace the Métrobus between the upper town and the suburbs of Charlesbourg and Beauport. Mayor Jean-Paul L’Allier is giving himself four years to have it financed by Quebec and Ottawa.
2005: After the retirement of Jean-Paul L’Allier, Andrée Boucher was elected mayor of Quebec. She was not in favor of the tramway and the project was sidelined. The opposition subsequently led by Anne Bourget, however, campaigned in its favor.
2007: The sudden death of the mayor forces new elections to be held. During the campaign, Anne Bourget’s tram project was strongly criticized, notably by a certain Régis Labeaume, who ended up winning the election. He was re-elected with a large majority the following year in regular elections.
2010: Régis Labeaume has changed his mind and unveils an ambitious “Sustainable Mobility Plan” providing for the installation of a tramway. However, the journey is different. The city proposes to use it to densify and carry out real estate development along Charest Boulevard.
2011: Jean Charest’s Liberals are financing a two-year feasibility study on the project.
2015 : The Quebec government is proposing to replace the tramway project deemed too costly with a rapid bus service (SRB) to better connect Quebec and Lévis. The project is valued at more than a billion.
Spring 2017: The mayor of Lévis, Gilles Lehouillier, announces that he is abandoning the SRB project. At the same time, interest in the third link project continued to grow.
Fall 2017: During the electoral campaign, Régis Labeaume defended the idea of a new structuring network project without mentioning a tramway. He is re-elected.
2018: The city of Quebec and the Couillard government are presenting a new tramway project on a new route between the Le Gendre sector and Charlesbourg. Another line – a trambus – must connect the St-Roch district to the Estimauville sector. The project is estimated at $3.3 billion.
June 2020: Quebec is abandoning the “trambus” portion of the project to reduce costs.
November 2020: The Environmental Public Hearings Office (BAPE) strongly criticizes the tram project. The CAQ government then demanded a new route.
February-March 2021: The Legault government is taking over the project so that it better serves the suburbs. The portion leading to Charlesbourg was finally set aside.
May 2021: The project was postponed for a year due to a lack of bidders. Régis Labeaume leaves politics.
August 2023: New postponement of the project.
November 2023: The government of Quebec regains control of the project and gives the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) the mandate to evaluate the best mobility options for Quebec.