Trudeau to announce high-speed rail between Quebec City and Toronto | CBC News
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday revealed his government’s $3.9 billion, six-year plan to connect Quebec City and Toronto with a high-speed rail line.
“Today I’m announcing the launch of Alto, the largest infrastructure project in Canadian history,” Trudeau said in Montréal. “A reliable, efficient, high-speed rail network will be a game-changer for Canadians.”
Trudeau said the new rail network will run all-electric trains along 1,000 kilometres of track, reaching speeds of up to 300 km/hour, with stops in Toronto, Peterborough, Ottawa, Montréal, Laval, Trois-Rivières and Quebec City.
A government statement said the project will stimulate the economy, “boosting GDP by up to $35 billion annually, creating over 51,000 good-paying jobs during construction.”
“Alto will be a truly pan-Canadian endeavour, using expertise and resources from coast to coast to coast,” Trudeau said.
Construction on the new line will not begin until the design phase is done, which could take four to five years. Funds are to be allocated at the end of that time period, so it’s possible a future government could modify or cancel the project.
Montreal to Toronto in 3 hours
Trudeau said the consortium Cadence — made up of CDPQ Infra, SNC-Lavalin, Systra Canada and Keolis Canada — was selected to build the line. The group was only informed in the last 24 hours that their bid was the best of the three submitted, according to sources that spoke to Radio-Canada.
As Radio-Canada first reported in October, the Liberal government had opted for a high-speed train rather than a slower high-frequency train project to transport passengers between Quebec City and Toronto.
Trudeau said that once build the new high-speed rail network will take passengers from Montreal to Toronto in three hours. By car, it takes about five and a half hours.
The the train will travel 300 kilometres per hour — double the speed of Via Rail’s current trains, the prime minister said.
WATCH | What Canadian high speed rail could look like:
A government statement said “Canada’s investment in the co-development phase of the project represents $3.9 billion over six years, starting in 2024-25,” in addition to the $371.8 million announced in the budget.
Transport Canada initially estimated that the cost of a high-speed rail link between the two cities could be as high as $80 billion.
It’s expected to take four to five years to design the future high-speed line. Funds are to be allocated at the end of that time period, so it’s possible a future government could modify or cancel the project.
