CANADA: The city of Québec has selected Alstom Transport Canada to supply and maintain 34 Citadis Spirit trams to operate its future tram line.
The 19·3 km line with 29 stops is intended to connect Pôle Le Gendre in the southwest with Pôle D’Estimauville to the north, including a 1·8 km underground section through the city centre.
Preliminary works and utilities relocation are already underway along the route, and the city government envisages that full construction will begin in 2024 for completion by 2029.
The rolling stock contract announced in April 25 is valued at C$1·34bn, of which C$569m is the capital cost of the vehicles and C$768m covers 30 years of maintenance. The contract includes options for the supply and maintenance of up to five more cars.
The low-floor vehicles are be developed at Alstom’s regional headquarters in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville near Montréal and assembled at the La Pocatière plant in Québec’s Bas-Saint-Laurent region.
According to the manufacturer, the ‘modern and spacious’ trams will be ‘adapted to the climatic and topographical conditions of Québec’, including winterisation.
