The federal government is pushing to have construction on the long-awaited high-speed rail line between Toronto and Quebec City underway within the next four years.
Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Thursday that the government’s new major projects office will help accelerate the engineering, regulatory, and consultation work needed for the project, known as Alto. Speaking at the Port of Montreal, LeBlanc called the initiative “a very exciting project in a very densely populated area,” adding that speeding up approvals could shave years off the timeline.
Former prime minister Justin Trudeau announced in February that Ottawa had awarded a $3.9-billion, six-year design contract to a consortium tasked with developing the 1,000-kilometre network. When complete, the system would allow passengers to travel from Montreal to Toronto in just three hours, with trains reaching speeds of up to 300 km/h.
The next four years will focus on determining the final route and completing assessments and Indigenous consultations along the corridor, which is home to roughly half of Canada’s population. LeBlanc said without the new fast-track process, construction might have taken up to eight years to begin.
Alto CEO Martin Imbleau has pegged the total cost of the project at $60 to $90 billion, though no date has been announced for when the first phase will open to passengers.