The Toronto to Montreal high-speed train just got another step closer
Toronto city council says it supports the creation of a high-speed train that would connect the city with Montreal.
In a motion, council joined Oshawa in backing the creation of a high-speed rail network along the Quebec-Toronto corridor, which officials say would reduce travel between the two cities to just under three hours.
A normal train ride from Toronto to Montreal takes an average of five hours.
“The high-speed train could have enormous leverage effects for the economic and cultural development of the major cities located in this corridor, notably Montreal,” the motion, proposed by Councillor Paul Ainslie, read.
“Over the next ten years, Quebec and Ontario alone plan to spend $56 billion on their road network, an amount that represents approximately twice the cost of a high-speed train between Quebec and Toronto.”
In February, two Montreal city councillors asked the federal government for support building the rail network. A pitch by manufacturing company Alstom—who is currently piloting a green hydrogen train on the Charlevoix railway—has already been made.
The federal government instead said they are looking at a High Frequency Rail project along the corridor and are in the process of looking for a private partner to develop it.
A section of Ottawa's proposed High-Frequency Rail network is seen in this image. (Via Rail Canada)
At the time, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said the government would be open to looking into whether trains should be allowed to go faster than 200km/h. However, councillors argue this is significantly slower than that of a high-speed train, which has the capacity of travelling at about 250 km/hr.
In Toronto’s motion, councillors argue that a high-frequency train would “only slightly reduce the travel time” and “therefore make the project much less attractive to the population.”
“If Canada wants to significantly reduce its green house gas emissions and reach its targets promised to the international community, significant sums will have to be invested in public transit, particularly in rail transportation,” it read.
The motion was adopted on March 30.
The Kathleen Wynne Liberal government proposed a 250 km/hr high-speed train that would have travelled from Toronto to Windsor in just two hours, but funding was paused in 2019 by the Doug Ford government.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 employees across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.