Listen to this article
Estimated 4 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
The CEO of the Crown corporation planning a high-speed rail link between Toronto and Quebec City says Kingston, Ont., will probably get a stop because the public is asking for it.
“It’s doable, the ridership is very strong because it’s a large community, it seems to be making a lot of sense,” Martin Imbleau told CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning on Wednesday.
He said most Alto trains would pass through Kingston, Laval and Trois-Rivières without stopping, enabling faster express service between larger cities.
Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said last month his office is “going to take a very, very, long, strong and positive look” at the possibility of including Kingston in Canada’s first high-speed rail route.
MacKinnon said Kingston is the fourth-busiest Via Rail station in the country. He said an Alto stop there would be widely used by students at Queen’s University.
“Business-wise, we’ve looked at the comments we received and it’s kind of persuasive that a stop in Kingston would make sense,” Imbleau said Wednesday.
WATCH | Imbleau’s full Ottawa Morning interview:
Alto closer to finalizing route for high-speed rail between Toronto and Quebec City
Alto CEO Martin Imbleau says Kingston, Ont., is likely to get a stop on the new high-speed rail line between Toronto and Quebec City, though express trains won’t stop there every time.Alto ‘cannot stop in all the communities’
Prime Minister Mark Carney has said he wants to start building the line in four years. The proposed Toronto-Quebec City line was announced late last year with planned stops in Trois-Rivières, Laval, Montreal, Ottawa and Peterborough.
Alto plans to release the specific route between Montreal and Ottawa for public feedback this fall. Imbleau also said there could also be changes around Montreal’s northwestern Mirabel suburb because of feedback from local farmers.
The stretch between Toronto and Ottawa, which would include Kingston, would come next, followed by the final piece to Quebec City.
Asked about the possibility of yet another Alto stop in Smiths Falls, south of Ottawa, Imbleau said Via Rail remains an option for those smaller communities.
“We cannot stop in all the communities. It needs to make sense, it needs to be fast, it needs to be economical.”
Local concerns
While there has been vocal opposition from some people living along the proposed route who are worried about what Alto will mean to their land and communities, the mayors of Kingston and the Township of South Frontenac have taken a different position.
“[The city] would only support the high-speed rail project if there was a stop in Kingston,” Mayor Bryan Paterson told CBC on Wednesday.
Alto first proposed two routes. One is an essentially straight line between Peterborough and Ottawa. The second dips south to within a 30-minute drive of downtown Kingston.
The two mayors met in March to voice their support for a third scenario that would see the track for the Alto rail line run farther south along the Highway 401 corridor, stopping in Kingston.
The 1,000-kilometre rail line would use all-electric trains reaching speeds of 300 km/h. It is expected to cost between $60 billion and $90 billion.
Paterson said he’s encouraged by the progress made toward a Kingston stop, and hopes the proposal will continue to develop.
“We’re not going to take our foot off the gas pedal here because there’s still been no confirmation of any final decisions being made,” he said. “We’re going to continue to press and make the case for Kingston.”
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has called for the government to cancel the project entirely.
He said last month it would be smarter to spend the money on cutting taxes, including the GST paid on used cars bought through dealerships.
“If this project ever gets built it will be 15 years from now and it will cost every family $8,000 in higher taxes,” Poilievre said. “It won’t take a single car off the road, it will just take passengers out of airplanes.”
The leader of the Parti Québécois says if elected later this year, his government would pull the province out of Alto because the money would be better spent on local transportation.