MONTREAL — It will be at least 2041 before Canada’s high speed rail line begins full operation, according to the head of the Crown corporation that will oversee its construction.
The Montreal Gazette reports that Martin Imbleau, CEO of Alto – the new name for what was previously VIA HFR — said Thursday (Feb. 20) that date does not represent a timeline, but a preliminary estimate. He also said the early estimate of the cost of the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) Toronto-Montreal-Quebec City project is Ca$60 billion to $90 billion ($42.3 billion to $63.5 billion). Imbleau also said the system is projected to generate 24 million round trips annual and provide a $24.5-billion economic boost.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the intent to proceed with the project on Wednesday, as well as a six-year, Ca$3.9 billion commitment for planning and design funds [see “Canadian government announces plans …,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 19, 2025].
Imbleau said the plan is to begin operations on a portion of the route by 2037, but it has not yet been decided which cities will be served first.
A post on Alto’s website notes the name is inspired by the word for “higher,” and is fully bilingual and easy to pronounce. The site also includes the table below, showing the projected difference in travel times between current and high speed service.
The real challenge is whether the Government will have the power to condemn and take the land for the Right-of-Way despite all the NIMBY pressures in such an undertaking. Presume they will be planning raised roadbed in urban and suburban areas to avoid grade crossings. Which can be quite expensive. Using existing trackage through cities greatly reduces average speed, similar to the NEC in Connecticut.
It’s very hard to get a reasonable estimate for costs that far out. Most likely it will be significantly higher than what they now say.
All true. But it needs to start with at least a decent estimate of what it would cost in today’s (2025) Canadian dollars. Before the first loonie is spent there needs to be a good-faith estimate of where this project will go.
Of course it’s early, and Ottawa hasn’t made that estimate yet. But it will need to.
Do I trust them? Not until Justin is out of there, along with his whole coterie of socialists. As far as I can tell, there’s zero difference between Ottawa and Sacramento.
This will unfortunately be a massive government bungle. The current government is a lame duck and with external pressure on Canada to make investments elsewhere it will be DOA.
As someone who wants to see it succeed I would love to see the engineering required to operate in freezing rain.
Life sucks when wants and realities don’t match up.
Uh, yes maybe Canada will mess it up, but there is High Speed Rail in nations with inclement weather, including lots of snow and ice, for example Russia, Sweden, Japan, the Northeast Corridor in the USA. It does snow in Britain, France, Germany, Turkey, etc…