ericmacm
Active Member
The first phase of TramCité will not be going to the airport, but CDPQi is planning an extension to the airport as part of a later phase.
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- Thread starter innsertnamehere
- Start date
MidtownKW
New Member
The Radio Canada article states that the station location will be Le Gendre, the future terminus of the first phase of the LRT. It's not far from the airport, but connection to the LRT seems much more important than connection to the airport to me in this case.
Mihairokov
Senior Member
Downtown was always a pipedream and Tremblay is the only realistic, good option.
Woodbridge_Heights
Senior Member
I agree with you, there are methods to account for the water table, however, I believe a tunnel below Union will be among the deepest if not the deepest structures built along the lakefront area. I remind you the railway would need to go low enough to clear the Union LRT tunnel/station, and the current Union station lower level (Food court level. I never get the naming right), which itself is already 12-18 feet below grade? (totally guessing here). So we'd be talking about 20 feet below that to safely clear? Total of 40+ feet below grade?
Again there's ways to do it if there's enough willpower, but there's a reason GO abandoned the plan, and in reality probably should have been part of the current Union revitalization work (creating a lower track level with access passages for future rail lines).
micheal_can
Senior Member
You mean like how there are multi levels to Grand Central Station? Tunneling below the water table is not new, or even unique. It can be costly, but if it is the best option, then it becomes worth that cost. GO could be fully RER by now with everything they said, but the province wants to do it on the cheap and as simple as they can.
kEiThZ
Superstar
Cause they are more about being a contrarian than actually concerned about things like the environment.
innsertnamehere
Superstar
A Tramway connection would definitely be important but I have to say I'm a little disappointed with how far out La Genre would be. I get not going right downtown (Gare du Palais right now is barely "Downtown" as it is), especially given how dispersed Quebec is, but stopping at the far end of the LRT line is going to create a lot of long lrt rides for tourists travelling downtown and negating a lot of the travel time benefits.
I would have hoped for a station somewhere more like Sainte-Foy, which has seen a lot of growth lately and is much closer to the historic downtown.
StreetcarRider
Active Member
In the interview, the CEO says they are considering three sites for the station in Quebec CIty: one in the northeast, one in the centre, and one in the west. The western one is presumably the initial tramway terminal. He also says they want to connect with the tramway or be nearby it whatever the location.
This is all great and obviously suits CPDQ Infra who is involved in the tramway project, but I hasten to add that work has not yet begun to build it. We’re talking about a non-existent train meeting up with a non-existent tram as of today.
Anyway, for those less familiar with Quebec City, here is why people are not necessarily enthusiastic about the western site near the airport especially if there is no connection to the airport at the time of opening:
innsertnamehere
Superstar
I don't think a connection to YQB is particularly useful, to be honest. It has less than 2 million annual passengers and is mostly a domestic/transborder airport, not many people will be wanting to make connecting flights there. Connections to YUL / YYZ would make more sense, but neither of those are planned either.
ericmacm
Active Member
You are absolutely right that this is all theoretical at this point, but TramCité works are actually supposed to start this summer on Boulevard René-Lévesque, just announced earlier last month, after the civil and systems contracts were awarded in February.
Mihairokov
Senior Member
If we were building a train for tourists it'd be routing to Niagara Falls. Tourists have made do in the past and they will continue to make do in the future - HSR needs to be tailored for the needs of Canadians travelling domestically within the corridor.
innsertnamehere
Superstar
The reality is that a good chunk of travel to and from Quebec will be tourism oriented - probably more proportionately than the other stops on the line.
The Quebec part of the line being done as cheaply as possible also makes sense though as it will be the lowest ridership part, it really shouldn't employ massively expensive solutions given the expected ridership north of Montreal.
Islington Express Bus
Active Member
Gare du Palais is a nice station in a good location and it'd be a shame not to use it. I don't see the point of stopping at the edge of the city at all. People want to go to the middle of cities, not the edge.
CapitalSeven
Senior Member
A couple of the other QC locations are off a current spur above the Q in the map above. They are on the tram and not too far from the centre. Could be a good compromise.
nfitz
Superstar
Deeper than the existing pedestrian tunnel under the lake?
It's all in low-permeability shales - it's not like they are tunnelling in beach sands. This is nothing compared to some of the new subway stations - Lawrence East will be approaching 50 metres below the water table, with far more head - and in far more permeable soils.
GO has been talking about building additional platforms below the existing station for years. This isn't a factor.