To the Editor,
The idea of a high-speed train created curiosity at first. The more we read and reflect, the more we question the real value for money of a high-speed train connecting Toronto to Québec City via Ottawa.
From a rural perspective, there are many implications. Writing a list of pros and cons quickly highlights many concerns. What really matters to Canadians is whether or not this major investment is a top priority and real value for money. I am assuming that Canadian taxpayers will pay for the entire development of this project, ninety billion dollars for about 1,000 km of rail, an average of ninety million dollars ($90,000,000) per km of rail. The corridor is 200 feet wide. Each 217 feet of rail line takes one acre of land! Given that Toronto to Windsor is also on the radar for high-speed train, much farmland will be lost.
Looking at the proposed high-speed train from San Francisco to Los Angeles, the initial timeline and the financial forecast have been exceeded and much farmland lost.
Will the high-speed train greatly increase tourism income in Canada? Airports are not close to the Alto railway stations, an inconvenience for international tourism. An estimate of 50,000 passengers a day is impressive and sounds like an optimistic scenario! There are good and bad years in tourism. COVID shut down tourism in 2020. More costs for taxpayers if tourism drops again?
The current VIA train between Ottawa and Montréal stops at the airport in Dorval. Will the new high-speed train cause the eventual shutdown of VIA if passengers switch to the high-speed option? Will it be the end of local VIA service to rural communities like Casselman and Alexandria.
On April 15, The Hon. Steven MacKinnon said: “You want to know who is championing high-speed rail in Canada, 173 Liberal MP’s who are going to be building major nation building projects including high-speed rail, a major project for national unity, a major project for mobility in our country, a project that will favour the building trades, men and women, steel, aluminum, lumber. We are going to put people to work using Canadian materials. Move that train as fast as we can.”
This statement means that the priority is projects favouring Canadian employment and materials. The high-speed train is a means to achieve that priority quickly. Alto already exists. The project can start immediately. Therefore ‘’move that train as fast as we can!’’.
Quoting Alto, ‘‘a 320 km/h train requires millimetre-level precision for the tracks’’. Our harsh climate is such that railroad bed foundations may need to be very deep in some soil types, to ensure that tracks won’t shift. It will be a massive infrastructure. This project will forever change our rural communities!
Given all of our needs, some way more urgent than others, is a high-speed train a top national priority?
Jean-Denis Methot
