(The Canadian Press circulated the following story on October 23.)
OTTAWA — Federal Transport Minister David Collenette is set to announce $700 million in funding Friday that will lay the groundwork for a high-speed train between Windsor, Ont., and Quebec City, La Presse Canadienne reported today.
After years of delays and obstacles, Collenette is expected to give his blessing to the project, sources, who asked not to be identified, told The Canadian Press’s French service.
But Collenette has said an additional $2.3 billion will be needed to complete the network – a decision that will have to be made after Prime Minister Jean Chrétien leaves office early next year.
Funding for the project will be spread over a number of years and would include improvements to railway tracks and the purchase of new locomotive engines by Via Rail.
The project would likely rely on JetTrain technology being developed by Montreal-based Bombardier.
The improvements would decrease travel time on Canada’s busiest stretch of track. But the new line wouldn’t go into service for between five and seven years because of the work involved, La Presse Canadienne reported.
The sources said the upgraded network will make for faster trips in the Quebec City-Windsor corridor even if the high-speed line isn’t built.
La Presse Canadienne added Collenette has been fighting for several months to get the project approved by his cabinet colleagues, having indicated he wanted the project announced this fall.
“This is something that the prime minister I know has shown some interest in,” Collenette said in August following a news conference with his Quebec counterpart to announce a $217 million highway infrastructure agreement.
“This matter has been under discussion at the cabinet and there’s a lot of support.”
A high-speed line between Canada’s two most populous provinces has been on the drawing board for decades but it gained new life last year when the federal government asked Via Rail to draft a plan for the upgraded rail network.
A detailed outline was submitted to cabinet last fall that would see the Bombardier trains travel at 200 km/h, making the trip between Montreal and Toronto in three hours. The trip currently takes four hours and 30 minutes.
Collenette has hinted broadly that he has cabinet support for the rail link, which could be a step towards meeting the federal government’s Kyoto emission-control commitments by getting at least some drivers off the highway and into railway cars.
One proponent of the project has impeccable political links: Via Rail chairman Jean Pelletier, former chief of staff and longtime friend of the prime minister.
Pelletier told reporters in April that he felt “very optimistic” that federal approval for the high-speed rail link was mere months away, adding he believed it had “overwhelming support.”
Chrétien himself has spoken in favour of high-speed rail.
But government must also consider the impact of the project on other modes of transportation, from bus and freight haulers to the troubled airline industry.