Since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced his ambitious high-speed rail proposal, recently rebranded as Alto, there’s been a growing voice of criticism regarding the true benefit of the project. Billed as Canada’s “largest-ever infrastructure project,” the rail network aims to link Toronto and Quebec City with 300 km/h trains.
The route adds stops in Peterborough, Ottawa, Montreal, Laval, and Trois-Rivières. But for economist Dr. Mike P. Moffatt, “the route that the federal government has chosen for the new high-speed train makes zero sense.”
He acknowledges the strategic importance of connecting Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal—home to some of Canada’s largest metro populations—but sees little rationale for extending to lower-growth areas instead of thriving hubs such as Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, and Windsor.
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“KW, London, and Windsor are three of the fastest-growing metros in Canada,” while Hamilton’s metropolitan area already rivals or outpaces Quebec City’s, he reasoned. Yet instead of building westward, the project plans to lay roughly 260 kilometres of track beyond Montreal to reach Quebec City, a region that, by the time the network is built, could be outstripped in population by Hamilton.
“In short, this route makes zero sense, bypassing large, fast growing metros in favour of smaller, slower growing ones,” he argued.
The economist pointed out that Laval has been chosen for a station, though its population growth lags behind that of Mississauga or Brampton, two Greater Toronto Area suburbs of comparable or larger size. Dr. Moffatt also wonders why Peel Region—roughly three times as populous as the Laval region—was left off.
“I wish I were still in government, so I could see the GBA+ analysis on this, giving the demographics of the communities that got stops, and the ones that were bypassed,” he ended.
Trudeau’s government touts that Alto (formerly VIA HFR) will modernize intercity travel, slash travel times by half, and deliver significant environmental and economic benefits. The chosen private consortium, Cadence—composed of CPDQ Infra, AtkinsRéalis, SYSTRA Canada, Keolis Canada, Air Canada, and SNCF Voyageurs—will co-develop and potentially operate the system.
READ: Will The Trudeau’s Train Project, Alto, Leave The Station Before He Does?
According to federal projections, the rail line could generate more than 50,000 construction jobs over a decade and eventually serve upwards of 24 million passengers yearly by 2055. These lofty figures are supported by claims of a 1.1% boost to Canada’s GDP.
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