MONTREAL — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced plans to build a high speed rail line linking Toronto, Montreal, and Quebec City, calling it “the largest infrastructure project in Canadian history.”
The 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) system, to be known as Alto, will have a top speed of 300 kilometers per hour (186 mph), with intermediate stops in Peterborough and Ottawa, Ontario, and Laval and Trois-Rivières, Quebec. The government has pledged Ca$3.9 billion ($2.74 billion U.S.) for design and development over the next six years.
Construction is not expected to begin until the design phase is complete, which could take four to five years. The CBC reports that construction funds will not be allocated until the end of the design period, which means a future government could modify or cancel the project. Canada will hold a federal election no later than Oct. 20 of this year; the latest CBC poll shows the Conservative Party with a significant but decreasing lead over Trudeau’s Liberal Party. Trudeau has already announced plans to step down as head of the Liberals; they will choose a new leader in March.
“Obviously, future governments will make their determinations about how they invest,” Trudeau said at press conference today (Feb. 19, 2025) in Montreal. “But this investment in Canadians, which starts right now, is going to be very difficult to turn back on.“
The announcement did not address the overall cost of the project, but Bloomburg reports government studies have suggested it could cost more than Ca$65 billion ($45.7 billion), while the CBC reports Transport Canada initially estimated the cost at up to Ca$80 billion ($56.2 billion).
Trudeau said in a press release that the high-speed system “will transform our economy – drastically shortening commute times for millions of Canadians, turbocharging economic growth, creating thousands of good-paying jobs, improving productivity, and reducing emissions. Montréal to Toronto in three hours – you can’t beat that.” Currently, that trip takes about 5½ hours.
The Cadence consortium — led by the infrastructure arm of Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, manager of the province’s pension funds and builder of Montreal’s REM light rail system — has been selected to build the project,. The company and Alto still need to sign a contract setting out terms of the development phase. Others involved in Cadence are Air Canada, Keolis, SNCF Voyageurs (the operating subsidiary of France’s national railway company), as well as engineering firms Atkins Realis Group and Systra. The CBC says Cadence was informed it had been selected only within the last 24 hours.
“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,” Jean-Marc Arbuad, CEO of CDPQ Infra, said in a press release. “We thank everyone involved in the development of the proposal for their trust and professionalism over the last year. We look forward to working together to design, develop and deploy this fundamental project for all Canadians.“
Air Canada’s involvement sparked some controversy when it joined the Cadence group last year, given concerns over the company’s history of antipathy toward passenger rail and the possibility its involvement would provide access to VIA Rail Canada data that could provide it with a competitive advantage [see “Air Canada involvement …,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 8, 2024].
Cadence was one of three consortia to bid for the project; under bidding rules, the government now owns the rights to the ideas the two losing groups presented.
The project began life as a VIA Rail Canada proposal for “high frequency rail” — a passenger-only route serving the Toronto-Montreal-Quebec City corridor [see “VIA Rail Canada still studying …,” News Wire, May 29, 2019]. It gradually evolved into a government-led venture, with a recent shift to high speed [see “Canada’s High Frequency Rail could become high-speed project,” News Wire, Oct. 9, 2024].
Martin Imbleau, who had previously been announced as the head of VIA HFR, VIA Rail Canada’s affiliate for the high frequency project, was introduced as president and CEO of Alto.
“I’m firmly convinced that the way a project is developed is as crucial as the project itself,” Imbleau said. “Which is why we are developing it now, in collaboration with Cadence, relying on the best practices of the industry. We have assembled a unique group of talents, combining the know-how of a federal Crown corporation with the experience of a consortium of world-class private partners.”
— Updated at 11:125 a.m. CT to recast article, add additional details.
Charles, Alto’s future is up to the Canadians why assume the project will be a failure at least their trying & there’s probably not as much negative forces against HSR or passenger rail as there is here. As for your comment on the s**t state of Amtrak that’s due to it mgmt & Congress failing to quickly approve new Board members. Your boy’s going to eliminate anything that even hints of “Green” including Amtrak, transit & even freight rail improvements & many, many other things we take for granted just to make the rich richer!
WOW! I assume none of you are Canadians but you still take a big dump on their HSR plans too! The same could apply to your beloved Brightline which I’m sure is bleeding losses like a cut jugular eventually their real estate gains will start taking a hit then it going down like a Jenga puzzle. You R’s just sit back & enjoy your own show of mayhem & chaos with your host Mrs. Donny Putin.
So Galen, other than your usual ad hominem nastiness, can you defend Alto? And have you noticed that Amtrak has gone to sh..t under your man Biden?
October 1974 Passenger Train Journal, an unforgettable article praising Canada’s rail passenger service. What’s left? Next to nothing, outside of the suburban zones and Windsor to Montreal.
Biden in USA and Fidel’s son in Ottawa both have a lot to answer for.
Will the Canadian builders have the power of “Eminent Domain” to absolutely take ANY property in the proposed rail corridor. At a “reasonable” price, of course. I would think that the countryside between these cities is rather thickly built up. Getting the needed right-of-way for the project could face some rather formidable opposition.
Pre-electioneering of the worst sort, from the coming big losers that did virtually nothing in the past decade.
Note that the map shows the HSR heading north out of Montréal. So they are going to drill a new Mount Royal tunnel after the existing one has been repurposed for the CDPQ light rail?
The Cadence members looks like a rogues roost of chislers. Maybe they take lessons from California HSR?
Yes Gregg. The shyster socialist totalitarian gouvernment du Canada absolutely took lessons from CalHSR. Looking west from Ottawa, Justin sees a Golden State population that hasn’t risen up with pitchforks and torches to chase the crooks and liars out of Sacramento. So they figure, if California is a nation of sheep, so is Canada. And as Andrew Townsend notes in his post (below) there’s a lot of loonies to be gained from a dodgy rail proposal.
Milwaukee’s long-time (now retired) talk show host, Mark Belling, made two observations about America’s economy. Both should pertain as well north of the border
(1) There’s a lot of money in going broke.
(2) There’s a lot of profit in nonprofit.
Well, there will be an election in Canada soon enough, that much is true in your statement. Of course, this project has been in the works since 2021, since before the last federal election. As for “doing nothing,” this government has done more for passenger rail in Canada than any other in the last 45 years. (It’s a very low bar, I grant you.)
Among the “nothing” Trudeau has done: almost $1 billion to re-equip VIA’s corridor trains; almost $800 million invested to date in the HFR/HSR project; almost $300 million in station and terminal rehabilitation; RFPs issued for the purchase of 300 new long-distance cars.
Is it enough? No, not to reverse decades of neglect. But let’s compare it what to the previous Harper/Poilievre government did for Via. Oh right: “virtually nothing.”
As usual, the engineering and consultants will make out OK. When it’s cancelled by the next gov’t. and then resurrected in 5 years or whatever again, they’ll get paid to do it all over again.
Just a correction for the record, the government has pledged should be $2.74 billion US not $2.74 million US.
Have mes chers amis canadiens learned nothing from California? The article’s last line of type shows that Ottawa and Sacramento are synonyms. Before going any further, Ottawa owes its citizens a realistic cost estimate and a realistic timetable. As it stands now, I’m not confident that 65 billion loonies would get the train from Toronto to much past Oshawa.
Also tell the people where the r/w will come from. Is r/w to be seized from existing active rail lines? If so, the railroad(s) would have something to say about it.
Finally, Canada is a big country with a truly lousy intercity passenger system. If Ottawa blows the whole wad on this corridor, what will happen to passenger trains in the rest of the confederation?
Meanwhile, there should be a proposal to return passenger train operations to Downtown Ottawa at Union Station that was closed in 1965 for a remote location. The right-of-way to the head house remains intact in the form of a trail where tracks can be relayed. The contemporary structure left to us by the so-called “Greatest Generation” is inadequate in location and capacity.
Ottawa deserves a grand railway gateway to its central business district.