Peterborough is one of seven stops along the high-speed train project.
Presentations about the high speed, electric passenger rail line connecting Toronto to Quebec City with stops in seven cities including Peterborough, Ottawa, Montreal are now in high gear.
ALTO is the crown corporation that will oversee the project which will be led by a consortium which will design, build and operate the line.
Last week Peterborough County hosted a meeting at the Peterborough Curling Club featuring ALTO CEO Martin Imbeau who ironically could not attend in person because his flight was cancelled due to weather. He used the event to highlight how the train he is promoting would have delivered him on time to the meeting.
The proposed electrified rail lines will travel a 1,000km route through an area that40% of the nation’s population call home. While it is still early days, Imbeau projected the bill for the project would range between $60 and $90 billion. On the upside, he suggested it could provide an annual GDP boost of 1.1% and remove 100,000 vehicles from the road every year, significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, while building stronger economic ties between communities.
He acknowledged that the train would require a significant amount of electricity- an estimated 50 megawatts per year. Power would be delivered through 12 to 15 substations acting as intermediaries connecting the grid to the train network. This demand is estimated to represent between one and three percent of Ontario and Quebec’s current electrical capacity. Preliminary talks have taken place between the provincial electricity suppliers, but until the route is finalized, no specific energy use projections will be made. Both energy providers are actively building more capacity to address a growing demand fueled in part by an electrification of many travel modes and industry requirements to support artificial intelligence applications.
The first segment of the line to be built is the 200 km section connecting Ottawa to Montreal. Construction on this route is expected to begin in 2030. Imbeau was clear that preliminary work will continue on other sections of the route as the project requires a great deal of planning and coordination to prepare for the installation of the tracks. He indicated that Trent University and Fleming College could be instrumental in delivering programs to equip future staff for the construction and operation of the train.
The location of the stations is determined by the alignment of the route, which must be as straight as possible, with no level crossings, to ensure the trains can travel safely at high speed.
ALTO is currently holding public consultation meetings in communities along the corridor of the route to collect feedback on specific locations before selecting the sites for the seven stations. It hosted two drop-in sessions in Peter-borough last Thursday, which reportedly drew an audience of 815 people. While most of those in attendance were excited by the project, others voiced concerns about the project’s impact on rural real estate which may be severed or acquired to accommodate the route, and questioned the need for travel options at this speed.
Municipal leaders in the area are generally enthusiastic about hosting the Peterborough station. Havelock-Belmont-Methuen Mayor would welcome the station. While Kingston does not factor in the project, they are annoyed at being left out. Their elected officials recently voted to demand that the ALTO route travel alongside the 401 and have a stop in their city, and are threatening to oppose the project if their demands are not met. Peterborough City Council members have gone so far as to identify an ideal site within the city boundary in Cold springs, and have initiated a study to support this location. On the other side, Trent Lakes have expressed concern about the potential impact the project could have on the municipality and are seeking direct discussions with ALTO representatives before formulating their position. Cavan Monaghan could also host the Peterborough station as the proposed route crosses through this municipality. The final decision about station locations will be announced in the fall.
Imbleau understands the importance of the site selection decision, saying a station’s location defines how a city connects for decades. In addition to the importance of the route alignment to ensure safe travel at high speed, stations should be located where there is easy connection to other transportation networks to connect train travelers with their destinations, with proximity to a regional airport, for example.
This project has been compared in importance to the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway and even the Canadian Pacific Railway that is often credited with the founding of our nation. This project establishes modern, efficient and sustainable infrastructure that will facilitate regional travel for business and pleasure and make the distances between major business hubs in Ontario and Quebec feel smaller. The economics of ticket prices has not been addressed and will determine how many car trips are actually swapped for train tickets. How much are people willing to pay to travel from Peterborough to Toronto in 45 minutes? Or from Toronto to Montreal in three hours? That’s a critical question for another day.