(Reuters distributed the following article by Randall Palmer on June 9.)
OTTAWA — A speedy rail system that could get passengers from Toronto to Montreal in just three hours looked closer to reality on Monday with fresh declarations of support from federal cabinet ministers.
“I’m optimistic that we’ll be able to make an announcement soon…about the project. Hopefully we’ll be able to move on it,” Transport Minister David Collenette told Reuters on Monday.
Collenette was speaking after a weekend debate in which Finance Minister John Manley announced that he was in favor of such a system.
Last year, the government passenger rail company, Via Rail, proposed a C$3 billion ($2.2 billion) “higher-speed” project that would improve the existing network, but not be nearly as fast, nor as costly, as France’s TGV system.
The proposal targets the heaviest traveled rail corridor in Canada, from Quebec City to Windsor, Ontario, through Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto.
Collenette told a parliamentary committee on Monday that an express service to go the 600 km (360 miles) from Toronto to Montreal could take three hours. Currently, the quickest Toronto-Montreal express takes about four hours.
Via’s proposal last year was to raise money on capital markets to help fund its Via Fast program — with the expectation that Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd., which own most of the tracks on the corridor — would also participate.
Only partial funding for the project, which has been opposed by airlines and bus companies, would come from the federal government. Despite Collenette’s optimism, one obstacle for the project is Prime Minister Jean Chretien’s plan to retire next February, with the race to choose a new leader of the governing Liberal Party already under way.
Finance Minister Manley is one of those vying to replace Chretien, but the front-runner is former finance minister Paul Martin, whose views on a high-speed rail system are unclear.