OTTAWA, Ontario — The Canadian proposal for a high-frequency, passenger-only rail corridor between Toronto and Quebec City, already moving at a languid pace, is facing new delays — and those could increase with the planned resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The Canadian Press reports that late last year, the federal government requested an extension on the bidding process for construction of the high-frequency route. At one point, those bids were due in “summer 2024” [see “Canada’s High Frequency Rail project begins …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 14, 2023], but that was pushed back as officials indicated last fall that the government was considering turning the project into a high-speed line [see “Canada’s High Frequency Rail could become high-speed project,” News Wire, Oct. 9, 2024].
The office of Transport Minister Anita Anand said extensions are “standard,” and that the prospect was included in the request for proposals. Anand said in an emailed statement to the Canadian Press that “no contract has been awarded … I look forward to sharing more when the time comes.”
But that time could be well in the distance. Trudeau’s planned departure once the Liberal Party selects a new leader could place the entire project at risk. His successor is likely to face a no-confidence vote that could trigger an election that, based on current polling, would likely place the Conservative Party in power. The Conservatives did not address a Canadian Press inquiry whether the party will support the project, saying only in a statement that “there is no high-frequency rail project to speak of.”
Terry Johnson, president of advocacy group Transport Action Canada, told the news service, “Any change of government will almost certainly lead to a process of reconsideration of everything the previous government has done before, either confirming it or changing it in some way,” Johnson said. He expressed concern the project could be scrapped altogether.
The high-frequency project was first proposed by VIA Rail Canada in 2015 and later taken over by the government, which announced in 2019 it would spend Ca$71 million to study the project, then said in 2022 it would seek private-sector investment [see “Transport Canada inches forward …,” News Wire, March 10, 2022]. It selected three consortia to bid for construction in July 2023.
A government that can’t do anything at all tries to wish into being a project hundreds of kilometers long.
Justin has been PM for a long time with VIA rotting away under his watch. HFR-Canada might have some credibility if VIA could run a train. Which it can’t do.
I’m no fan of California HSR. But it’s on the record that Califonia made tremendous strides in incremental improvements, going from being Amtrak’s afterthought in 1971, to accounting for all of Amtrak’s growth in the years to either side of the turn of the century. Where is Canada’s equivalent of California’s success in corridor trains?