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Founded in 1608, Quebec City is one of the oldest settlements in North America with ancient stone walls surrounding the only such example of a fortified city north of Mexico. Famous for its Old World charm, the Provincial Capital is home to no less than 37 National Historic Sites, its Upper Town and Lower Town rich with the architectural and cultural history of early Canada. Long trading on its own unique cultural significance and storied past, Quebec City has remained a prime destination for tourists and sightseers from across the globe. Going back to the late nineteenth century, Quebec City has done its best to attract newcomers to its cobbled streets, whether by foot, carriage, or otherwise, including, as will be subject of this week's edition of Once Upon a Tram, the marvellous half-century run of the Quebec Street Railway.
Begun in 1863 as the Quebec Street Railway Company, with operations within both the business district of Upper Town and the Champlain Market district of Lower Town, the original horse-drawn trolley service served central Quebec City for more than 30 years from 1865 to 1897. Following electrification in 1897, the old wooden rails were replaced by a modern network of iron rails and overhead catenary wires. The Quebec Street Railway Company briefly rebranded as the Quebec District Railway Company before it was absorbed and renamed once again as the Quebec Railway, Light & Power Company, a designation it held from 1899 to 1957.
Following electrification, the newly formed Quebec Railway, Light & Power Company quickly began to extend its network throughout the city, with a fleet of modern electric-powered conventional streetcars and open-air sight-seeing cars manufactured and imported from a factory in Upper New York State. Discernible to those with a keen eye, the 1906 map of Quebec City below highlights the extent of the street rail network (in blue) as it reached its zenith.
Extending far outside of the old city walls, the Quebec Street Railway soon grew to include 11 distinct routes, serving nearly every corner of the Old and New City, with service stretching from the Place Royale to the Grand Allée and beyond, and rail service added to the ill-fated Quebec Bridge, which collapsed once in 1907 and again in 1916.
From 1910 to 1912, the Quebec Railway, Light & Power Company grew its network further afield, adding service to what became the streetcar suburbs of Silery and Beauport and establishing the high-water mark of Quebec City's streetcar era. The network remained in operation until 1948 following a decade-long decline in the face of competition from the automobile and the introduction of buses into the broader public transportation network.
Nevertheless, the streetcar remained the dominant form of public transportation for several decades. The tell-tale rumble of streetcars and trolleys through the ancient cobblestone streets of Old Quebec was a familiar sight and sound within the Provincial Capital for more than half a century.
While the rise and fall of the Quebec Street Railway did not differ significantly from the histories of countless other electric railway networks across North America, the unusual addition of a separate fleet of purpose-built observation cars, or 'Char Observatoire,' to locals — which could incidentally also be found in Old Montreal during the same time — adds an important bit of flair and added whimsy to the history of electric rail in Quebec City.
While electric streetcar service in Quebec City continued to dwindle beginning in the late 1930s, the ever-popular Observation Cars and related sight-seeing routes through the Old City remained a draw right up until the cessation of electric rail in 1948. Seen above and below, the archival 1940s-era photographs showcase the continued popularity of the service right up until the very end, with open-air cars loaded to the brim with the usual mix of amused-to-less-than-amused tourists and day-trippers.
Following the end of electric rail service on May 26, 1948, the Quebec Railway, Light & Power Company continued its operations with the addition of buses to its network for another decade until its final sale to the Province in 1957. From that day forward, despite several name changes and organizational shuffles, the public transportation service has remained a public entity, today known as the Réseau de Transport de la Capitale, or RTC. Beginning in 2000, the Provincial Government mandated the RTC to study the feasibility of reintroducing a network of local and regional light rail to Quebec City and its environs, announced in 2010 as Project RTC.
With the potential to bring 21.5 kilometres of light rail to Quebec City and its suburbs, the ambitious LRT plan, as seen above, has been stalled since its introduction in 2010. With no money currently available for what would undoubtedly be a multi-billion dollar infrastructure project, a project that would likely take at least a decade from planning to completion is infeasible. Furthering doubts about the plausibility of the LRT proposal, the Mayor of Quebec City went on record in early 2015 stating in his own words that "le tramway est mort," dead on arrival due to a lack of public funds and political will. However, despite his message of gloom regarding the future of light rail in the Provincial Capital, Mayor Régis Labeaume did not rule it out completely, adding that perhaps one day there would come a time when such a plan may have the hope of seeing the light of day.
No matter the outcome of the LRT plan now placed on hiatus, the legacy of Quebec City's unique history of electric street rail is, much like the ancient city itself, truly unique within the North American experience. Though it's a blip on the radar of Quebec City's 400-plus-year history, the story of light rail within the Provincial Capital is one that had made its way into the urban fabric and public memory of one of Canada's oldest, most historic cities.
SkyriseCities will return soon with a new edition of Once Upon a Tram, which will take an in-depth look at the transit legacy of a city near you. In the meantime, feel free to join the conversation in the comments section below. Got an idea for this series? Let us know!
