The Trudeau government is expected to unveil plans for a high-speed rail link between Quebec City and Toronto in the coming weeks, Radio-Canada reported.
Supporters of the project hope the train will take passengers from Montreal to Toronto in three hours. By car, the journey between the two cities takes approximately 5.5 hours.
The trains will run at 300 kilometers per hour, twice the speed of Via Rail’s current trains, officials told Radio-Canada.
The City of Ottawa has announced plans to build a so-called “high frequency” (HFR) rail corridor in 2021, with stops in Toronto, Peterborough, Ottawa, Montreal, Trois-Rivières, Laval and Quebec City. Officials told Radio-Canada that the federal government has decided to speed up the link between Toronto and Quebec City.
Trains will run frequently on newly constructed, separate electrified tracks. In addition to Quebec City, Montreal and Toronto, it would also serve Trois-Rivières, Laval, Ottawa and Peterborough.
The federal government is selecting a winning bidder from among three competing consortia, and an announcement is expected in the coming weeks, sources told Radio-Canada.
A spokesperson for Transport Minister Anita Anand did not confirm the news as no contract has been signed. It could take several more months to complete the deal.
“No contracts have been signed with consortiums for the Quebec City-Toronto Corridor rail project,” the spokesperson said. “Our Liberal government has ambitious and innovative plans for Canada’s future.”
in economic conference Mr. Anand said in Toronto on Oct. 16 that the federal government is “moving forward with one of the three bids we are currently accepting for high-frequency high-speed rail.”
“Rail will increase productivity, increase efficiency, reduce carbon emissions and allow us to build more homes on rail lines.”
The government selected three consortia to bid. High frequency railway project Between Quebec City and Toronto. The bidding consortium warned Ottawa that ridership would be lower on high-frequency trains than on high-speed trains because customers want the shortest journeys possible, according to people close to the file. That’s what it means.
In addition, VIA HFR Inc., a Crown corporation formed in November 2022 to develop a rail corridor between Quebec City and the rest of Canada, refers to more than just high-frequency trains. It is expected that the company name will be changed to
Officials said the consortium’s study demonstrated that high-speed rail options were “much cheaper than originally anticipated.”
CBC Creator Network’s Paige Saunders looks at why Canada is considering a new traditional-speed passenger network, despite higher-speed options.
Transport Canada originally estimated that the cost of building high-speed rail between the two cities could reach $80 billion.
The three consortia selected by the government are Cadence, which consists of CDPQ Infra, SNC-Lavalin, Systra Canada, and Keolis Canada. Intercity rail developers including EllisDon Capital, Kilmer Transportation, First Rail Holdings, Jacobs, Hatch, CIMA+, FirstGroup, RATP Dev Canada, and Renfe Operadora. QConnexiON Rail Partners, consisting of Fengate, John Laing, Bechtel, WSP Canada and German Rail.
It is unclear which consortium won the bid. Because the project office owns all bids, elements from each bid can be used in the final project. The project will be jointly developed by the federal government and a private consortium.
Designing future high-speed lines is expected to take four to five years. Because the funds are to be allocated at the end of that period, future governments may change or cancel the project.
High-speed rail may pay for itself: expert
Pierre Valle, a lecturer in transportation planning at the University of Montreal and a consultant for Gris Orange, said high-speed rail connections could pay for themselves by eliminating the need to build new highways and airports. .
“We are building projects like this [the next] “150 years. Canada deserves better than high-frequency trains,” he said.
Mr Barrow also said he believed that less fast but more frequent trains would not have brought about a “mobility revolution” and customer demand would have been too low.
He also said he wouldn’t be surprised if the project ultimately cost $120 billion.
Paul Langan, founder of an advocacy group called Canadian High Speed Rail, said he hopes the pending announcement means Canada is at a “tipping point.”
“I think it’s kind of like in the United States, where you end up somewhere and all of a sudden there’s another corridor,” Langan said. He suggested a high-speed rail project between Edmonton and Calgary would likely be the next best option.
Countries with less developed economies than Canada already have high-speed rail. Turkey has the YHT, which can reach speeds of 250km/h, and Poland has the PKP. The top speed at Al Borak in Morocco is 320km/h. Indonesia has just launched the Whoosh, which has a top speed of 350km/h.
A high-speed rail project is underway in Brazil, and India is importing Japanese Shinkansen models.
