One year late for Quebec Tramway

Gabriel Béland
La Presse

La recherche d’un consortium pour réaliser le projet de 3,3 milliards s’est révélée plus dure que prévu. Un seul groupe s’est manifesté, ce qui était en dessous des attentes de la Ville.

« L’acquisition de Bombardier Transport par Alstom est [la raison] Principal, ”explained Mayor Regis LaBeoum.

Three anonymous consortiums have been announced in advance for the summer of 2020. These consortiums are responsible for providing trams, building and maintaining the network. The city wanted to give the “turnkey” deal.

But Citi explains that the French giant’s takeover of Bombardier Transport in January 2021 changed the situation. It had to face the facts in the last days: only one consortium was still in the race. The mayor was reluctant to disclose what constitutes respect for privacy requirements.

The project office director, however, gave evidence to interested groups. Nordic tram manufacturers do not drive the streets. These are mainly Alstom, Bombardier Transport and Siemens.

“There may be others, but the concept of winter operation becomes a limiting factor,” explains Daniel Genest.

Rising cost?

The city has revised its policy in the face of a shortage of candidates. The contract is divided into two. The call for proposals would require finding a civil lawyer – a company that installs the network and digs a tunnel – and another that targets rolling stock manufacturers.

This type of work was initially rejected by the city because it was considered more dangerous.

The city first finds a rolling stock manufacturer. It finds the Civil Servant, who must install the network with the rolling stock of their choice.

“I support the city of Quebec’s decision to cancel the call for proposals and change the procurement process for its tramway project,” Transport Minister Franకోois Bonnardell responded.

“This decision is necessary to ensure good management of public funds and to promote healthy competition,” the minister continued.

This change project should be delayed by one year. When announced in the spring of 2018, the start date is projected to be 2026. Recently, the city has been talking a lot about the 2027 summer. This tram will now run in the summer of 2028.

“It was a way of crucifixion for twelve, thirteen years. That’s the expression I remembered when I thought about it this week. We have faced a lot of upheavals in this project, ”Regis LaBeoum agreed.

The Auditor General of the City of Quebec recently warned that the project would create a budget increase of $ 100 million each year of delay. The mayor agreed and did not rule out that the project would cost more than $ 3.3 billion.

“These are the talks we have to do with Quebec,” he said. “Costs are known when envelopes are opened. We will then hold appropriate talks with the government. ”

For his part, the official opposition leader and Trump’s fiercest rival fired an arrow at City Hall. “It’s affordable, never pays to go too fast,” Jean-Franకోois Gosselin responded that he was going to showcase his vision for public transport in Quebec next Wednesday.

Regis LaBeouf has already announced that he will not stand again. According to him, regardless of the new mayor, the government of Franకోois Legalt wants to move forward with Trump.