To the Editor,

Regarding Alto, I will try to bring a big picture view of this high-speed train project.

Several farmers complained about the possibility of their farmlands being split up by the rail line.  Many farmers in the prairies farm parcels of land that are often a distance apart.  I suspect several farmers had their farms split by the building of the 417. The compensation any farmers will receive for losing some of their land will be envied by many.  This project will be disruptive to many.  That happens with large projects.  Care about the people in remote areas who might be losing their access to potable water, food sources, and even their homes to mining and other projects.

I would love to have a station in Hawkesbury but that makes almost no sense for high-speed rail.  High speed rail competes with airlines; each stop adds about 10 minutes or more to the travel time.  I am surprised the plans include a stop in Laval, but Laval serves a population of close to a million people.  I expect the station for Ottawa will be close to Orleans or Nepean.  The land costs to extend the line to downtown Ottawa would be at least five times higher than in rural Ottawa and the costs of building a corridor in which no traffic crosses the line would be horrendous and disruptive to traffic in downtown Ottawa.  A location close to South Keys or Leitrim on the new line seems most logical.

Ten years ago, we used high-speed rail to go from Madrid to Barcelona, and it was a great experience.  The line from Montréal to Ottawa would probably get a fair amount of usage, especially between 6 am and 9 am and 3 pm and 7 pm.  I just doubt it or the whole system would get as much use as promoters expect.  Of the 18 million people who live in that corridor, at least a third live where they would not have easy access to the line.  In Europe, there are tiers of public transit that provide most people reasonable access to the rail lines to use for longer trips.  We do not have that here.

Big projects appeal to our egos.  We need investment by the government in strengthening regional transportation that would enhance use of the glamorous projects.

Sincerely,

Jim Kenney

East Hawkesbury