With $6 billion in new federal funding for Quebec\u2019s public transit announced in June, experts and lobbyists say there is a long list of priorities for coming projects.<\/p>\n
However, everyone appears to agree maintaining aging and crumbling infrastructure should be the first priority for any new spending.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0224-city-blue-line_301661786.jpg\")
Workers walk past the massive tunnel boring machine on Feb. 23, 2026, at the new Verti\u00e8res m\u00e9tro station in Montreal. The priority of any transit spending must be to invest massively in aging m\u00e9tro tunnels and stations, says Ahmed El-Geneidy, the head of the Transportation Research at McGill group. Pierre Obendrauf \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n
Speaking to The Gazette on Friday, Prof. Ahmed El-Geneidy, the head of the Transportation Research at McGill group (TRAM), explained the money must be contingent on a big investment by the province as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe federal government only ever pays one-third the amount, so Quebec has to put money in,\u201d said El-Geneidy, who served on the board of the Autorit\u00e9 r\u00e9gionale de transport m\u00e9tropolitain for several years.<\/p>\n
He said if the province matches the money to the extent that usually occurs, there will be $18 billion.<\/p>\n
In Montreal, the priority of any transit spending must be to invest massively in aging m\u00e9tro tunnels and stations, as well as replacing the m\u00e9tro\u2019s MR-73 trains, which were built in the 1970s, El-Geneidy said.<\/p>\n
When the federal money was announced in June, Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 de transport de Montr\u00e9al chairperson Aref Salem said the agency\u2019s two priorities are to bring its infrastructure back up to good condition and to replace the MR-73 trains, which are 11 times more prone to breakdowns than the newer Azur trains. However, Salem said the STM\u2019s maintenance deficit stands at $7 billion, while a recent estimate by the transit agency determined it would cost about $10 billion to retire the old trains, which includes replacing control systems. That doesn\u2019t leave much for new projects.<\/p>\n
El-Geneidy said if he could choose a third item on which to spend the new money, it would be to improve access to the east end of Montreal. However, he said adding elevators and platform screen doors to stations should also be top priorities.<\/p>\n
Florence Junca-Adenot, a UQ\u00c0M urban studies professor, agreed the urgent need is to reinvest in infrastructure just to keep the lights on. She said failing to do so means suffering with service cuts, broken-down trains, and stations being shut because their degradation is too severe.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like having a house,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you don\u2019t invest in the foundation of the house, then you can\u2019t live inside that house.\u201d <\/p>\n
However, she cautioned this new money can\u2019t be seen as a cure-all after years of cuts to transit budgets.<\/p>\n
\t\tEditor\u2019s Picks\t<\/p>\n
\u201cIt needs to be the first step,\u201d Junca-Adenot said. \u201cWe need to have a fund that is dedicated to the maintenance and operations of public transit in the province.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brian Nash, a spokesperson for the lobby group Trajectoire Qu\u00e9bec, also said the m\u00e9tro\u2019s infrastructure is the greatest priority. However, his group says there is also an urgent need for new public transit projects in the province. The biggest ones are the tramways in Quebec City and Gatineau, but in Montreal, they say, what\u2019s needed is a heavy transit mode to link the east end to the downtown core.<\/p>\n
Nash, however, cautioned against promising too many new projects without taking into account how to pay for them in the long run.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t make an error to forget about the future,\u201d Nash said. \u201cWe have elected officials who love to cut ribbons on new projects, but we forget that these projects cost money in operations and maintenance in the long term.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we don\u2019t have a choice: We have to do both. We have maintenance needs that are urgent, but we also have needs for new transit that are urgent. We have a population increase that is impressive throughout the province, and we have lots of areas of the province where there isn\u2019t an adequate transit system.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nash said Trajectoire Qu\u00e9bec expects to make a formal wish list public in the coming weeks, in the hope that the province\u2019s political parties make their transit intentions clear for the coming election.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope that transit will be a big election issue,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will work hard to make sure that (parties make their promises known). The province has to finance investments that will result in an increase in transit service of five per cent per year, which the (Coalition Avenir Qu\u00e9bec government) promised to do in 2018.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Profile](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786445171_164_jm23-0418-Jason-Magd.MT_.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n