Almost a year ago, Justin Trudeau’s Liberals announced a six-year, $3.9-billion design and development plan<\/a>\u00a0for the 1,000-kilometre high-speed rail line.<\/p>\n It will use all-electric trains reaching speeds of 300 km\/h, taking about two hours to travel from Ottawa to Toronto and about one hour to get from Ottawa to Montreal, slashing Via Rail’s travel time by about half.<\/p>\n In December, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government announced the first leg of the 200-kilometre corridor will go between Montreal and Ottawa<\/a>, including a stop in Laval, Que.<\/p>\n “It’s not if, now. It’s how and when,” Martin Imbleau, Alto’s president and CEO, told CBC’s Ottawa Morning on Tuesday. <\/p>\n “We missed the boat in the 80s, so in 2026, it’s even more required than before,” he said. “So let’s do it for real this time.” <\/p>\n What’s the timeline? <\/p>\n Imbleau said construction should begin around 2029-30. At an Ottawa Board of Trade conference last week, he told business leaders they had “better be prepared” because the contract could be awarded as soon as 2029.<\/p>\n “The object in the mirror is closer than it appears,” Imbleau said. <\/p>\n Critics have said things are moving too fast,<\/a> and warned that could compromise people’s property rights and lead to costly mistakes.<\/p>\n WATCH | Construction could start in 2029, minister says: Montreal-Ottawa high-speed rail construction could start in 2029<\/p>\n Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon says the first leg of a planned high-speed rail network between Quebec and Toronto will link Ottawa and Montreal, and he believes starting construction in 2029 is realistic.<\/p>\n Construction on the remaining segments, from Quebec City to Montreal and Ottawa to Toronto, will begin at a later, unspecified date. <\/p>\n Imbleau said the full project could take 15 to 18 years to complete.<\/p>\n How much will it cost? <\/p>\n Overall, the project is estimated to cost between $60 billion and $90 billion.<\/p>\n Imbleau said it has secured enough financing until the start of construction \u2014 about $3 billion to $4 billion for the development phase leading to that first leg.<\/p>\n “It’s one of the largest public infrastructure projects in the history of the country,” he said. <\/p>\n In terms of cost to customers who will take the train down the line, Imbleau said the team is considering a “range” of pricing, but said fares will have to be accessible and competitive.<\/p>\n Where will it go? <\/p>\n According to the current map, the rail corridor crosses two provinces and appears to occupy a “fairly large” swath of land \u2014 up to 10 kilometres wide in some places, Imbleau said.<\/p>\n “We don’t have a very precise alignment to start,” he said, accounting for the width and reinforcing the need for public input.<\/p>\n “By the end of 2026, we will be in a position to present the very precise alignment,” he said.<\/p>\n In a memo in December, the City of Ottawa’s general manager for planning and development, Marcia Wallace, said she signed a non-disclosure agreement “to gain access to the detailed mapping and route planning options under consideration.”<\/p>\n On Tuesday, CBC News asked Imbleau if popular trail systems such as the Prescott Russell or Cataraqui trails are in peril.<\/p>\n Imbleau didn’t answer directly, explaining that a high-speed rail line must be relatively straight with few curves.<\/p>\n “So you establish your starting point, you try to follow existing corridors, try to limit the impact on properties \u2014 but then again, it has to be as direct as possible,” he said.<\/p>\n Alto’s website specifies that when approaching Ottawa<\/a>, the options “are limited to reduce impacts on residential neighbourhoods,” and said it’s looking at integrating the network with existing corridors such as railways, power lines and roads. <\/p>\n East of Ottawa, a new rail bridge will be\u202frequired\u202fto cross the Ottawa River at its narrowest point, the website states.<\/p>\n Alto is studying two options between Ottawa and Peterborough, Ont.: a more complex northern route across the Canadian Shield, cutting through the counties of Lanark, Frontenac and Hastings; and a southern route through eastern Ontario’s agricultural and resort region, which has a denser population but is simpler in terms of construction and operations.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769010911_288_default.jpg\")
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An LRT train passes the Via Rail train station in Ottawa in December 2022. Alto’s CEO says the future high-speed rail may connect to Ottawa’s current LRT station. (Melanie Campeau\/CBC)<\/p>\n