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If you’ve ever imagined how convenient a high-speed train between Quebec City and Toronto would be, you’re apparently not the only one.
The Canadian government is reportedly “seriously” considering building the country’s first high-speed rail line, which would connect Quebec City to Toronto and pass through Montreal along the way.
If it goes ahead, this game-changing project would revolutionize travel for millions of Canadians. From travel time to stops, here’s what we know so far about the proposed high-speed railway and what travellers could expect from it.
The proposal
The plan to develop a high-speed rail line has been in the works for a while, CBC News reports. Back in 2021, the federal government announced a “high-frequency” rail corridor to link cities like Toronto, Peterborough, Ottawa, Montreal, Trois-Rivières, Laval and Quebec City, with the possible additions of London and Windsor.
At the time, the estimated cost of the 1,000-plus kilometre travel corridor ranged between $6 billion and $12 billion.
The goal was to improve journey times and the overall travel experience in this part of Canada, which would connect millions of travellers between the two provinces.
It’ll also be a win for the environment too, with the largely-electrified corridor offering a low-emission travel alternative that could remove thousands of cars from the roads.
Fast forward to today, and the project is heading into its next step with three qualified bidders. These companies have been tasked with presenting two options: one for a “conventional” rail system with speeds of up to 200 km/h, and another for a high-speed system that could rival Europe’s fastest trains.
This week, Jean-Yves Duclos, the federal Minister of Public Services and Procurement, confirmed that high-speed rail is something the government is “seriously” considering.
How fast will they go?
Duclos mentioned that even if the new trains are “high-frequency” rather than full-on high-speed, they could still achieve impressive travel times, bringing them close to what we see in Europe.
Essentially, we’re looking at trains that would move faster than the current VIA Rail system, where speeds range between 60 and 120 km/h, depending on the track segment, CBC suggests.
So, how fast could these new trains go? Well, the government hasn’t finalized the specifics yet, but they’ve asked the bidders to propose solutions that could top 200 km/h. If the high-speed option wins out, trips between Montreal and Toronto could take as little as three hours, compared to the current five-hour-plus journey.
This new rail line would operate on dedicated tracks, freeing passenger trains from the slowdowns caused by sharing space with freight trains.
The new rail corridor will be built in stages and will need to pass through various evaluations, such as environmental and regulatory reviews, before getting the final approval.
When could this happen?
For now, we’re still in the early stages. A successful bidder is expected to be announced soon, per the Toronto Star, with construction likely to take several years if it goes ahead.
According to Duclos, it could be the mid-2030s before anyone’s hopping on a high-speed train between Montreal and Toronto.
If this project comes to life, Canada would finally catch up with other G7 countries in offering high-speed rail. With around 18 million people living along the proposed corridor, this could transform how Canadians travel and connect across the country.
Although we’re still waiting for more concrete details, the future of rail travel in Canada is looking faster than ever!
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