Feds slow down timeline for faster Toronto-Quebec City railway

The federal government has slowed the timeline on a faster passenger railway between Toronto to Quebec City.

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said Thursday he hopes the high-frequency rail line will be running by the mid-2030s, rather than the early 2030s.

"The forecast is that I'd love to see the service in operation in mid-2030s. That is where we expect the service to be ready," he told reporters, with construction expected to kick off "a few years from now."

"But it is a lengthy process, I acknowledge that. But this is the best way to do it, because we want to do it right." Alghabra said.

At a press conference at the Montreal Central Station, the minister announced a request for proposals from three consortia that had made it onto a shortlist, which is the latest step in an enterprise announced in July 2021.

That year, Alghabra predicted the line to cost between $6 and $12 billion. He declined to put a price tag on the undertaking Thursday, saying  instead that the government still has to assess the proposals.

"While I may have a sense for the overall number, I also wouldn't want to give Canadians an inaccurate number that later on I have to change," he said.

Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said a high-speed rail corridor accommodating peak speeds of 300 km/h, which has been requested by some Quebec lawmakers, is not feasible given the number of stops the trains will make.

A high-speed rail corridor could require hundreds of millions of dollars to build the necessary underpasses alone, said Vincent Robitaille, Transport Canada's assistant deputy minister of high-frequency rail. Other infrastructure, such as fencing, would also be necessary, on top of buy-in from local and provincial governments.

Topping out at about 200 km/h, Via Rail trains will run on mostly brand new tracks, on land owned largely by Canada's two rail giants, CN and CP, he said.

"We cannot add more trains right now," said Robitaille. "The freight trains make the (passenger) trains slower, and it also limits the number of trains you can have."

The passenger cars are expected to pass through Montreal, Trois-Rivieres and other Quebec and Ontario municipalities between Toronto and Quebec City. The corridor would also include stops in Ottawa and Peterborough, Ont.

The three consortia selected to submit proposals are Cadence, which includes SNC-Lavalin and its largest investor, the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, which manages the province's public pension fund; Intercity Rail Developers, which includes Hatch and EllisDon; and QConnexiON Rail Partners, which includes WSP Canada and Toronto-based infrastructure investor Fengate.

Alghabra said he hopes to select a partner next summer.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 20, 2023.