{"id":19845,"date":"2023-07-22T01:56:46","date_gmt":"2023-07-22T08:56:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/feds-slow-down-timeline-for-faster-toronto-quebec-city-railway\/"},"modified":"2023-07-22T01:56:47","modified_gmt":"2023-07-22T08:56:47","slug":"feds-slow-down-timeline-for-faster-toronto-quebec-city-railway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essential.construction\/news\/feds-slow-down-timeline-for-faster-toronto-quebec-city-railway\/","title":{"rendered":"Feds slow down timeline for faster Toronto Quebec City railway"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"-\"<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

\n

MONTREAL \u2014 The federal government has slowed the timeline on a faster passenger railway set to stretch from Toronto to Quebec City.<\/p>\n

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said he hopes the high-frequency rail line will be running by the mid-2030s \u2014 rather than the early 2030s, which he projected as recently as March.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe forecast is that I\u2019d love to see the service in operation in mid-2030s. That is where we expect the service to be ready,\u201d he told reporters, with\u00a0construction\u00a0to kick off \u201ca few years from now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it is a lengthy process, I acknowledge that. But this is the best way to do it, because we want to do it right,\u201d Alghabra said.<\/p>\n

At a press conference at the Montreal Central Station, the minister announced a request for proposals from three consortia that had made it onto a shortlist, the latest step in an enterprise announced in July 2021.<\/p>\n

That year Alghabra pegged the likely cost at between $6 billion and $12 billion. But he declined to put a rough price tag on the undertaking, stating that the government will first have to assess the proposals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI may have a sense for the overall number, I also wouldn\u2019t want to give Canadians an inaccurate number that later on I have to change,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez, the Liberals\u2019 Quebec lieutenant, said a fully high-speed rail corridor \u2014 called for by some politicians in that province \u2014 that hits peaks of up to 300 km\/h is not feasible, given the number of stops the trains will make.<\/p>\n

A high-speed rail corridor could require hundreds of millions of dollars on\u00a0construction\u00a0of underpasses alone, since the zippy lines could not host road crossings, said Vincent Robitaille, Transport Canada\u2019s assistant deputy minister of high-frequency rail. Other infrastructure such as uninterrupted fencing would also be necessary, on top of buy-in from a bevy of local and provincial governments.<\/p>\n

Topping out at about 200 km\/h, the Via Rail trains will run along mostly brand new track on land owned largely by Canada\u2019s two rail giants, CN and CP, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot add more trains right now\u201d \u2013 hence the need for more frequent, faster rail service \u2014 Robitaille said. \u201cThe freight trains make the (passenger) trains slower. But it also limits the number of trains you can have.\u201d<\/p>\n

The passenger cars are expected to pass through Montreal, Trois-Rivieres and other Quebec and Ontario municipalities that sit between Toronto and Quebec City, running at up to 200 km\/h. The corridor would also include stops in Ottawa and Peterborough, Ont.<\/p>\n

The three consortia selected to submit proposals are: Cadence, which includes SNC-Lavalin and its largest investor, the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, which manages the province\u2019s public pension fund; Intercity Rail Developers, which includes Hatch and EllisDon; and QConnexiON Rail Partners, which includes WSP Canada and Toronto-based infrastructure investor Fengate.<\/p>\n

Alghabra said he hopes to select a partner next summer.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2023 The Canadian Press<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n