(Montreal) Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois pledges to invest US$10.7 billion over eight years to create Quebec Rail, a government agency whose mandate is to provide public transit by rail between major cities provided by Quebec. How Québec solidaire (QS) managed to quantify this commitment, he could not say on Friday.
Updated yesterday at 7:10pm.
Hugo Pilon-Larose The press
This project, which appears in Quebec solidaire’s “Plan vision 2030,” is “at the heart of a transport revolution in Quebec,” he said. The Left Party is also proposing to invest $2 billion in an initial mandate to create a “Quebec Bus,” a network of 11 lines that would make it possible to travel without the car where there is no train service .
Québec solidaire lists five rail lines that Québec Rail would first offer service on: Matane-Québec, Québec-Montréal, Québec-Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke-Montréal, and Montréal-Gatineau. These lines – a total of 1140 km of track – already exist, explains Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois. Some fall under Quebec jurisdiction, others under federal jurisdiction.
In any case, the government should negotiate with the companies that own them to modernize them, build bypasses to let freight trains through, and negotiate the right-of-way for public electric trains.
“We worked with several experts. […] We’ve done our homework. This proposal is realistic with the existing railway lines,” Mr Nadeau-Dubois said on Friday.
It should be noted that no new section will be built in this project. We don’t have to build new tracks. These are estimates based on the investments required to renovate or improve certain parts of the existing sections, [et des] Investments that make it possible to build missing infrastructure, such as train stations.
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, co-speaker of Québec solidaire
cost details
The QS parliamentary chairman could not explain how he had determined the cost of 10.7 billion, which would be an initial investment to get the Quebec railroad up and running on the first five sections by 2030. His candidate for riding Taschenreau in Quebec, Etienne Grandmont, also reiterated that we “are not at Génies en herbe” while the party was questioned about the cost of acquiring or building the electric trains he plans to deploy.
PHOTO EDOUARD PLANTE-FRÉCHETTE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
Etienne Grandmont (right), Solidarity candidate in Taschenreau, accompanied by Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, co-speaker of Québec Solidaire, last August
“Our project is realistic,” assured Mr. Nadeau-Dubois. “We won’t be writing the tenders with you today, but we have a positive bias that these trains will be built in Quebec,” he said.
Mr. Nadeau-Dubois recalled that each section planned for “Québec Rail” is different and that there is no single scenario for the development of this new network.
“Let’s take the Quebec-Matane section. We will partner with CN who owns this segment. We’ll put money on the table to fix the rails. […] Our service will complement VIA Rail’s current service,” he explained.
What we are proposing is not a public monopoly. There will continue to be private providers. VIA Rail will be able to continue if they wish to be able to operate where they are on duty.
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, co-speaker of Québec solidaire
After the press conference, the party told reporters that it estimated the cost of its project at between $7 million and $11 million per kilometer. “This estimate includes the purchase of trains and infrastructure [comme la] upgrade and [la] Position of new tracks as well as the development of railway stations. »
A public bus network
Québec solidaire is also proposing to develop 11 intercity bus lines, operated by a state-owned company, over four years, which would complete the network where there is no rail service. According to the Left Party, it would be a network of more than 4,000 km of roads. A private company like Orléans Express could no longer operate on a route that Quebec buses would travel, particularly the Montreal-Quebec corridor.
To launch the Quebec bus, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois’ party plans to invest 2 billion during a first mandate. This would allow the government to operate between Montreal and Rouyn-Noranda, in the Abitibi region, between the Lanaudière and Laurentian regions, on Route 132, between Montreal and Quebec, Sherbrooke and Quebec, Quebec and Saguenay, Quebec and Sept- Îles, in Gaspésie and Chibougamau.