New High-Speed Train to Take Travelers from Toronto to Montreal in 3 Hours

This past week, the Canadian government announced plans for ‘Alto’ - a new high-speed rail service that would connect Toronto with Québec City. Billed as ‘the largest infrastructure project in Canadian history’, the announcement included a pledge of ~4 billion CAD (~ USD 2.75 billion) in government funding for the project, which some reports claim could cost as much as (if not more than) 80 billion CAD (56.2 billion USD). Despite being a ways off from breaking ground, this is an intriguing project, so let’s cover some of the details.

Alto - High-Speed Canadian Rail Service

If Alto comes to fruition as conceived, the train service will run 1,000km (~612 miles), stretching a corridor home to roughly 20 million people. The train would connect Toronto with Peterborough, Ottawa, Laval, Montreal, Trois-rivières and Quebec - Canada’s 1st, 72nd, 14th, 4th, 39th, 2nd, and 12th most populous cities, respectively. Capable of reaching speeds up to 300 km/hr (~186 mph), the journey would deliver eastbound passengers departing Toronto to Montreal in 3 hours. 

At present, a train journey connecting these destinations could take as long as 15 hours via Via Rail, so Alto, as currently designed, would be significantly faster and more convenient. 

Here’s my Google Mapping of the route:

Don’t Expect This One Anytime Soon

While the announcement of this project is promising, we’re very much in the early innings. For one, Canada's political leadership is in question - and who knows what the agenda of the new administration will be. Second, the government’s pledge of funds is actually for the designing and planning phase of the project. Given that those funds are to be doled out over a six-year period, (again - should that commitment stick) - it makes sense that construction wouldn't commence until the planning phase is complete. Operating on this timeline and factoring in construction, it's reasonable to say that Alto many not come online for at least a decade. Nonetheless, high-speed rail travel when done right (Japan, Italy, Germany) is a true game changer for efficiently moving cohorts of people around. Here’s hoping Alto becomes a reality sooner than later.