2003: First attempt

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 21.5 km (13.4 mi), the infrastructures would take four years to build. The service frequency would be 5 to 10 minutes.

2010: Project presented by the City Committee for sustainable transport

2010 project

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 22.6 km (14.0 mi) 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, 6.6 km (4.1 mi) 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 (SRB). The bus project was in turn cancelled in April 2017 following the withdrawal of the Lévis municipal authorities.

2018: Structure-enhancing public transit network

The tramway's eastern terminal was to be Louis-XIV in Charlesbourg in 2018, but was changed to D'Estimauville in 2021.

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 23 km (14 mi)-long tramway line for $3 billion.^[11] At that time, the line would link Charlesbourg to Cap-Rouge, passing through Quebec Parliament Hill via a 3.5 km (2.2 mi) tunnel. The Quebec City tramway was to be in service in 2026.^[12]

2020–present: Reassessment of tramway project

In November 2020, Quebec's environmental review board (BAPE, part of the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment, and Fight Against Climate Change) 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.^[13] 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.^[14]

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.^[15] 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.^[16]

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.^[17]

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 may be multiple consortia involved in the project.^[18]

On November 9, 2023, Quebec premier François Legault refused the new plan from the city right before the construction was about to begin, suspending the project. He ordered Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) to take over and conduct an additional 6 months of studies on top of the 20 years of studies the project has already gone through.^[8]

Procurement

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, it will also maintain them for 30 years.^[4] The contract calls for the construction of 34 Citadis Spirit LRVs with an option for 5 more to handle any increase in ridership.^[19] The contract is worth $1.34 billion of which $569 million is for building the vehicles and $768 million is for 30 years of maintenance. Vehicle maintenance is not considered part of the $4 billion capital cost of the line. The Réseau de transport de la Capitale (RTC) will pay about $25 million per year for vehicle maintenance. The vehicles will be assembled at Alstom's factory in La Pocatière starting as early as November 2023.^[3] Alstom will provide operator training for RTC staff.^[6]

Construction

Despite a late project approval in 2021, studies and preliminary work began from 2019. Land acquisitions, drilling and archaeological excavations were also carried out from 2019.^[20][21] The first major works took place in Saint-Roch, from March 2021, with the transformation of Rue de la Couronne and Dorchester Street.^[22] In 2022, other works began on Chemin des Quatre-Bourgeois and Boulevard Laurier.^[23] All these so-called "preparatory" or "pre-work" sites aim to move the underground pipes to prevent them from being under the tram tracks.^[24]

In April 2023, the city announced that construction would start in 2024 instead of the summer of 2023, thus the projected project completion date became 2029 instead of 2028.^[6] However, with the Legault announcement in November 2023 to suspend the project and transfer it to CDPQ, this is now impossible.

Pôle de Sainte-Foy

The Sainte-Foy transfer hub will be located within the quadrilateral bounded by the streets: Avenue Lavigerie, Route de l’Église, Boulevard Laurier and Boulevard Hochelaga. The station will have a large passenger building covering the tramway tracks and platform. The building will have a heated waiting area, washrooms, and ticketing and information facilities. The hub will have two bus terminals, one for RTC buses on the west side of the tracks, and another for STLévis buses on the east side. (Sixty percent of station ridership is expected to come by bus from the city of Lévis.) There will be with 7 bays for buses coming from the west and 5 bays for those coming from the east. The hub will also have a bicycle parking area.^[31]