QUEBEC CITY — According to Reuters, the Canadian government is considering a proposal from Via Rail Canada Inc. to let the passenger rail service raise money on capital markets to fund faster and better rail connections across Ontario and Quebec, federal transportation officials said on Friday.
The project, for fast-service trains between Windsor and Quebec City could be funded mainly by the private sector, but also by the Canadian government and could cost up to C$3 billion ($1.9 billion), they said.
“We are not talking about a TGV high-speed train but about a fast-train rail system. The TGV technology is very expensive,” said Anthony Polci, spokesman for Canadian Transport Minister David Collenette.
The TGV technology is currently used in European countries such as France and Germany, but recent studies show that a special rail line for special trains could cost Canada as much as C$12 billion.
Polci said Ottawa was studying a proposal from Via Rail, a Crown corporation and the country’s main passenger railway, to upgrade Canada’s central railway corridor.
Track upgrades and new locomotives are being considered in the corridor, which includes Windsor, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City. “This is something the minister is looking into and it is not a done deal,” Polci said from Ottawa.
A time frame for a final decision has not been set.
Via Rail receives some C$170 million in subsidies per year and its financing has been guaranteed until 2008. But it has however been often criticized for poor service and delays.
The Globe and Mail daily newspaper reported on Friday that Canadian National Railway Co (CN) (Toronto:CNR.TO – News) and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (Toronto:CP.TO – News) would be expected to chip in to fund the project if the federal government does go ahead. ($1= $1.57 Canadian)