Local leaders on board with high-speed rail plan
Peter Black
Local Journalism Initiative reporter
peterblack@qctonline.com
Reaction has been almost unanimously positive to the federal government’s decision to hire a consortium to build a high-speed rail service between Quebec City and Toronto.
The 1,000-kilometre line would have stops in the Quebec capital, Trois-Rivieres, Laval, Montreal, Ottawa, Peterborough and Toronto. The trains would be electric and travel at up to 300 km/h.
Frederik Boisvert, the president and CEO of the Chambre de Commerce et D’industrie de Québec, said in a statement to the QCT, “With this project, Canada is finally joining the ranks of major global economies that have recognized the importance of high-speed transportation for their prosperity and growth.
“This initiative represents an exceptional opportunity for the Quebec region. We must ensure that our business ecosystem fully benefits from these infrastructure investments.”
Mayor Bruno Marchand was equally enthusiastic. Speaking at a city hall scrum in the wake of the Feb. 19 announcement, the mayor called the federal government’s earlier proposal for a high-frequency service “crap” where billions would be spent to cut 20 minutes off a trip. He said the new high-speed plan, however, is the way to go and the higher cost “is worth it.”
Marchand added, “It’s a big project. But the economic impact of this project is going to be major for our cities. It’s going to be major for Montreal. It’s going to be major for Trois-Rivières, for Quebec City. It’s going to be major for mobility, not just for people, but workers.”
In Trois-Rivières, which lost passenger rail service in 1990 with VIA Rail cuts, civic officials said they were pleased with being on the proposed high-speed line. Jean-Philippe Martin, president of the Trois-Rivières Chamber of Commerce and Industries, told Radio-Canada, “It would be fun if people could go see a show either in Trois-Rivières or in Montreal, and be able to come back by train at the end of the evening. There has to be a [good] frequency for people to be interested in taking it.”
As for the Quebec government, Infrastructure Minister and Minister for the Quebec City region Jonatan Julien, told the Journal de Quebec the Alto project is “a very good idea” that the government supports. “A TGV (train de grande vitesse) that leaves from Quebec City with a corridor is fantastic. We can move around more quickly. Also, these are major investments, so there are economic benefits. And there are mobility issues that are interesting.”
A notable sour note about the Alto project came from federal Conservative transport critic and Toronto-area MP Philip Lawrence. In a post on X, the MP said, “The prime minister will be gone in two weeks. The minister of transport will not be seeking re-election. Today’s announcement is a lame-duck statement from a lame-duck government. Today’s announcement is yet another promise with no details that will take years and $3.9 billion on planning and bureaucracy, without laying a single piece of track,” he said.
In January, when there were doubts about the future of a major rail project given the state of political uncertainty, Conservative Party Quebec lieutenant and Charlesbourg MP Pierre Paul-Hus said in a statement, “After nearly a decade of the Liberal government of [Justin] Trudeau, there is no high-speed rail project, strictly speaking, it does not exist.”