Tramway is Taking Shape
December 2, 2022
The traffic will be smaller with a tram that will pass every seven minutes, 20 hours per day. There will be 29 stations, of which two are underground.
The tramway will be available in the fall of 2028. It will be 19.3 kilometres long, and its maximum speed will be 70 km/hour. It will have priority over traffic lights and will be secluded from the traffic. It can transport 260 passengers, which means 3 900 people per hour! It contains four times more people than a normal bus. The tram doesn’t have to slow down at stop signs or daily traffic, so it has a shorter journey than you with your car.
The government started the construction in 2020, and the construction project is separated into two phases: the first one, from spring/fall 2022, and the second one, from summer 2022 to spring 2023. The project will cost approximately 4 billion dollars in total. However, an extra 600 million dollars was recently announced due to inflation.
The objective is to create a green environment. Where the tram passes, there will be more vegetation. It will be on a platform for security. The platform will be approximately 15 centimetres, like a sidewalk. There will be 60% more places for cyclists and pedestrians.
The tram will help the environment and climate change. It will help to reduce 89 000 tons of CO2 by 2041 if people abandon their cars for the tram. Thousand of trees will be planted since some needs to be removed to let the tram pass. The goal is to have 35% of the platform under vegetation.