high-speed rail

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.”

Feds chose consortium to build Quebec City-Toronto high-speed rail 

Peter Black

Local Journalism Initiative reporter

peterblack@qctonline.com

Sometime in the foreseeable future, Canadians may hop on an Alto train to get from Quebec City to Toronto, and several stops in between. They’ll be spending roughly half the time making the trips they do now, because the train will be travelling at up to 300 kilometres per hour.

At a Montreal news conference on Feb. 19, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, with Transport Minister Anita Anand, and Alto president and CEO Martin Imbleau at his side, announced the selection of the consortium tasked with getting the 1,000-km-long, all-electric project rolling.

A dedicated passenger rail link in the Quebec-Toronto corridor has been studied for at least 30 years, in an effort to liberate VIA Rail from the poor service and reliability that comes with sharing tracks with rail cargo traffic.

Since 2016, the Trudeau government has been promoting a high-frequency service, but last year switched gears and opted for the high-speed train plan, on mostly existing tracks on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec.

The consortium, called Cadence, combines several well-known transportation and engineering outfits, including Air Canada and Kéolis, a French-owned passenger bus company. The other members are the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec infrastructure division; AtkinsRéalis, formerly known as SNC-Lavalin, the Montreal-based engineering firm; SNCF Voyageur, the French national company that operates high-speed rail in France; and SYSTRA Canada, a global engineering company specializing in transport projects.

Anand said Alto, a separate entity, would be signing the contract with Cadence “in the coming weeks” to start the detailed planning for the project over the next six years, with a $3.9 billion investment, on top of some $370 million already committed in the most recent federal budget. 

Trudeau, calling Alto “Canada’s largest ever infrastructure project,” said “high-speed rail will turbocharge the Canadian economy – boosting GDP by up to $35 billion annually, creating over 51,000 good-paying jobs during construction, and unlocking enhanced productivity for decades to come. By connecting economic hubs at rapid speed, businesses will have more markets to sell to and workers will have more job opportunities.”

Anand, who has said she does not plan to run in the next election, said, “Today’s announcement will put passengers first, with dedicated tracks between Toronto and Quebec City passing through Peterborough, Ottawa, Montréal, Laval, and Trois-Rivières. This will cut train travel times in half. It will promote growth in regional economies and reduce emissions at the same time. It’s a nation-building project we can all be proud of.”

Asked about the project’s fate in the event of a change in government, Trudeau said, “It was always going to be one that took long enough to build that it would cover multiple governments. It takes will and determination by a government to move forward and lock in this project. … Obviously, future governments will make their determinations about how to invest, but this investment … is going to be very difficult to turn back on.” 

Imbleau, the former head of the Port of Montreal and senior executive at Hydro-Québec and Énergir, took on the job of Alto boss in September 2023. He said at the news conference, “A high-speed rail service is not a luxury, it is a necessity,” given the pressures on other modes of transport. 

Imbleau said the design and planning team would ensure the right plan is in place before construction actually begins. “We will take our time in order to avoid problems later on. In four or five years we will know what, how and how much (it will cost) in detail.”

Cadence was one of three consortia bidding on the project in a process launched in October 2023. In a statement, CDPQ Infra president Jean-Marc Arbaud, said, “This landmark project is set to revolutionize mobility in Canada for future generations. The Cadence consortium’s unparalleled expertise, synergy, and successful track record offer Alto, the Crown corporation with which we will develop this project, a trusted partner to bring this visionary project to life at the best possible cost.”

According to some studies, the cost to build the Alto service could reach $120 billion.