TramCité (Québec City Tramway)

Alignment

TramCité is a 19 km light rail line with 29 stations, five of which are transfer hubs. It begins at Le Gendre in Cap-Rouge and runs east along Rue Mendel, Chemin des Quatre-Bourgeois, and Avenue Roland-Beaudin to Boulevard Laurier, serving Sainte-Foy and Université Laval. It then follows Boulevard René-Lévesque Ouest toward downtown, enters a tunnel of about 2 km under Parliament Hill (Colline Parlementaire), and resurfaces to run along Rue de la Couronne through Saint-Roch. The line ends in Charlesbourg after running north along 1re Avenue through Limoilou. The two tunnel stations serve Parliament Hill and Place D’Youville. Station names and sites come from the city’s earlier plan and may change before CDPQ Infra finalizes the design in 2027.

The Government of Québec owns the project. Since April 2026 it has exercised that role through Mobilité Infra Québec, a provincial agency. CDPQ Infra, the infrastructure arm of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, leads design and delivery through its subsidiary Infra CITÉ. The City of Québec and the Réseau de transport de la Capitale (RTC) are partners. The RTC will operate the line, and CDPQ Infra will handle long-term maintenance. The current budget and schedule cover this first phase only; earlier plans also proposed branches to D’Estimauville and Lebourgneuf.

Updates

2026-09 — Tunnel portal excavation begins downtown

Boulevard René-Lévesque Est was closed between Avenue Turnbull and Rue de l’Amérique-Française, where crews started excavating the open trench that will lead into the Parliament Hill tunnel. This work had been brought forward at the provincial government’s request. Utility relocation continues there and in the Chaudière, Plateau de Sainte-Foy, Saint-Sacrement, and Montcalm areas.

2026-07 — Systems co-development contract signed

Connexion Capitale, formed by Siemens Mobility and AtkinsRéalis, signed a co-development contract with Infra CITÉ. The contract covers systems integration, interface management, and oversight of testing and commissioning, and leads into construction and commercial service in 2033.

2026-04 — Mobilité Infra Québec becomes project owner

Using a power added to the tramway’s enabling law on April 2, 2026, Transport Minister Jonatan Julien delegated the role of project owner (maître d’ouvrage) to Mobilité Infra Québec. The agency replaces the minister in the existing agreements with the City of Québec and Infra CITÉ. Funding agreements with the city and the RTC stay with the ministry.

2026-03 — Civil and systems consortia selected

CDPQ Infra named Tram Alliance (Kiewit and EBC) as preferred bidder for the civil works and Québec Connexion Capitale (AtkinsRéalis and Siemens Mobilité) for the rail systems. Both teams began a 14-month co-development and detailed design phase with the rolling stock supplier. The full design, target price, and schedule are due to the Québec government for approval in 2027.

2025 — Preparatory works resume

CDPQ Infra held a market information session in February 2025 with 121 companies and then qualified bidders for the two major contracts. The three partners signed interface agreements setting out their roles, and utility relocation and soil drilling resumed along the route.

2024-12 — Agreements signed; TramCité at C$7.6 billion

The Québec government, the City of Québec, and CDPQ Infra signed agreements on December 16, 2024 to deliver a Le Gendre–Charlesbourg tramway, renamed TramCité. The province put phase 1 at C$7.6 billion, up from C$5.27 billion in June 2024 after C$2.2 billion in preparatory work was added, and set 2033 as the opening year. Under the agreements, the province sets the project’s objectives, schedule, and budget.

2023-11 — Province suspends the city-led project

After the City of Québec’s call for tenders failed, Premier François Legault suspended the project and handed it to the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, through CDPQ Infra. At the time, the city’s plan was estimated at C$8.4 billion.