I’m a hockey fan. This time of year, my favourite team has usually ended its season prematurely, yet again, and my attention turns to the IIHF World Hockey Championship. This year, the event is being held in Prague, Czechia. During one Team Canada game the broadcast announcer mentioned the city is in the “centre of Europe,” due to its being only a four-hour train ride to numerous destinations, including Berlin, Vienna and Budapest.
While railways may have initially opened Canada to westward expansion, today travelling by rail can be grueling and expensive. But with the push for net-zero or low-emission transportation, the idea of high-speed rail networks is making a comeback.
The federal government’s High-Frequency Rail (HFR) project proposes a network that will extend over 1,000 kilometres of dedicated and electrified tracks, with stops in Quebec City, Trois-Rivières, Laval, Montreal, Ottawa, Peterborough and Toronto.
Last year Transport Canada announced three groups had been selected after an RFQ to move forward as the private developer to work with Crown corporation VIA HFR-VIA TGF to design and develop what is the largest transportation infrastructure project in Canada since the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway over 60 years ago.
“This project will be transformative for both Québec and Canada,” said VIA HFR CEO Martin Imbleau. “We will bring cities closer together and connect three capitals and the country’s two biggest cities.”
Out west, the Government of Alberta recently announced it will develop a Passenger Rail Master Plan to assess the feasibility of passenger rail in the province, including regional (inter-city), commuter and high-speed services.
The vision includes a province-led “Metrolinx-like” Crown corporation with a mandate to develop the infrastructure and oversee daily operations, fare collection/booking systems, system maintenance, and planning for future system expansion.
“A large and efficient passenger rail network stretching across the province has incredible potential… to improve daily life and work, boost the economy and take away the stress of long-distance travel,” said Premier Danielle Smith.
Alberta’s vison includes public, private or hybrid passenger rail, includes a commuter rail system for the cities of Calgary and Edmonton that connect surrounding communities and their airports to downtown, and a regional rail line between Calgary and Edmonton, linking the province’s two largest cities, where approximately 70 per cent of the population resides.
The plan is in addition to two unsolicited proposals that could ultimately form part of Alberta’s future passenger rail network. The Prairie Link Partnership (EllisDon and AECOM) proposed a $9-billion high-speed train between Calgary and Edmonton. In 2022, Banff-based Liricon Capital proposed building a $1.5 billion rail line between the Calgary International Airport and Banff.
While all these plans are years in the planning and making, the fact that high-speed and passenger rail projects are being contemplated at all is a huge step forward for Canada’s transportation infrastructure network.
John Tenpenny is the Editor of ReNew Canada.
[This article originally appeared in the July/August 2024 edition of ReNew Canada]
Featured image: (VIA Rail Canada)
