We all have nostalgic memories of long car journeys, wrapped up in plaids, listening to a Leonard Cohen or Cindy Lauper CD. But the world is moving faster and faster, and we’re getting impatient…
Ottawa today announced the construction of a high-speed train line between Quebec City and Toronto, the “Alto” project. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called it “the largest infrastructure project in Canadian history”. It will be 1,000 km of electrified train lines crossing Canada, linking East Coast cities in record time.
It’s going to be fast!
If we take the train between Montreal and Toronto today, it’s about a 5-hour journey. For a shorter trip, between Quebec City and Montreal, it’s at least 3 hours. With high-speed rail, travel time will be cut in half, so 1h30 for a Québec-Montréal trip and 3h for a Montréal-Toronto trip.
Project timeline?
It starts today, but the project won’t happen right away. First, there will be a consultation process to ensure respect for the environment and the territories of aboriginal peoples, then it will have to be built (1,000 km is no mean feat!), and it’s still too early to say when construction will be completed and the line put into service.
It’s a government mega-project and will cost, according to estimates, around $100 billion. It’s expensive, but the project will benefit the Canadian job market, tourism and the environment in the long term.
We’re waiting for the schedule, and we’ll be following the project very closely! In the meantime, we still prefer to travel between cities by bus or train, and we’re making a playlist to get us through the long hours of travel staring out of the window…