OTTAWA — The federal government is moving ahead with a high-speed rail network between Quebec City and Toronto, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Wednesday.
The Liberal government says the planned rail network — which is expected to take several years to design and build — will span approximately 1,000 kilometres and reach speeds of up to 300 kilometres an hour.
There will be stops in Toronto, Peterborough, Ottawa, Montréal, Laval, Trois-Rivières and Quebec City.
The government says the new system, to be called Alto, will slash travel times in half and get travellers from Montréal to Toronto in just three hours.
The announcement in Montreal by Trudeau and Transport Minister Anita Anand came after years of debate and extensive study of options to improve commuter rail service in central Canada.
"It's taken us years as a government, over the course of three different mandates, to get to this point, but we are now seeing high-speed rail as a reality for Canadians," Trudeau said.
The government has selected Cadence, a consortium of companies, to co-design, build, finance, operate and maintain the rail megaproject.
The government says Cadence will work with Alto as multi-year efforts begin on detailed design, Indigenous consultations, land acquisition and the environmental assessments necessary for construction.
Canada's contribution to the co-development phase will be $3.9 billion over six years, starting in 2024-25. The government says this amount is in addition to the almost $372 million earmarked in the last federal budget.
Passenger rail service currently relies on tracks used by freight trains, limiting service frequency and often causing delays.
