Quebec officially launches Tramway de l’Est project

The “Tramway de l’Est” project, that will see the construction of 31 stations to connect Montreal’s east end to cities like Terrebonne and Repentigny, was officially launched Wednesday and will begin its preliminary stages of development this summer.

It was unveiled last spring, after two other proposals were rejected, including that of CDPQ Infra with a REM.

The Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM) will be responsible for launching the first stages of the project before handing the reins to Mobilité Infra Québec (MIQ) to finish the new tramway line, Quebec’s Deputy Premier and Minister of Transport Geneviève Guilbault said Wednesday at a press conference.

“We don’t have any time to waste,” Guilbeault said.

The ARTM is expected to make a public call in the fall to select potential partners who will be responsible for constructing the transit line. Guilbeault said that the official builder will be selected by 2027, with construction to begin shortly thereafter.

“Today, we are going forward with the call of interest that will be published this fall and we are preparing the call for qualification to qualify potential partners to realize the project,” Guilbault said. “By then, MIQ should be in place and they will take the project and realize it.”

The projected route would enable commuters to pass through the island’s east end, with stops at Rivière-des-Prairies, Pointe-aux-Trembles, Repentigny and Terrebonne. The new tram line will be powered by electricity and is also expected to connect to the STM’s Blue and Green Metro lines.

Regarding the project schedule, no date for the commissioning of the future tramway was put forward during the press conference. But Guilbault hopes that “by 2027 at the latest,” the procurement stages, which include calls for interest, qualification and proposals, will have been completed. 

“You can compare it maybe to the reserved bus lanes on Pie IX Boulevard, but it’s gonna be rail,” said ARTM Executive Director of Network Modelling, Organization and Development Ludwig Desjardins.

The ARTM estimates the project to cost over $18 million, according to a report published in 2024. Desjardins expects that the biggest challenge will be deciding the overall route as it will span many municipalities. 

“Each neighbourhood, each street that the project is going to be built on, we have to talk with municipal officers, with mayors to reach consensus,” he said.

Repentigny Mayor Nicholas Dufour, who joined Guilbeault at the annoucement, said that the new tram line offers residents the first real public transport alternative to reach the island’s downtown and surrounding areas.

“The east of Montreal and Repentigny has been waiting 40 years for real public transport,” he said. “It’s going to be a game changer for our community.”

CityNews spoke to some Montrealers Wednesday about their opinions on the new transit project. For some, a new tram line connecting eastern Montreal to the suburbs was a welcomed initiative.

“It’s a very, very good idea,” one person said, “I think with Montreal is a big city, very populated. I think the public transportation needs to be developed a lot.”

For others, the money spent on the new project could be used to improve the city’s transit services which they say are not reliable enough.

“They should work on what we have,” another said. “They want to make transit more accessible for disabled people, but most of the time, so often, stairways aren’t working (…) I think money should be spent on what we have before we start building something new.”

“But (the suburbs are) so spread out that it’s going to be very, very difficult to gather enough users  to justify this kind of thing,” added a third. “These people are not coming to the downtown. They are coming with their car. They’ve been doing so for the last 50 years and they’ll keep doing so.”

—With files from The Canadian Press