The Canadian Press
Allison Jones
A high-speed rail corridor between Toronto and Windsor, Ont. is in the works–an idea floated in Ontario for decades but the premier says this time it’s happening.
A government-commissioned report looking at the feasibility of such a project pegs the cost around $20 billion and suggests looking to the private sector for opportunities to partner on funding.
Preliminary design work and a $15-million environmental assessment are beginning, with an aim of full service in 2031.
The government hopes that by 2041, the rail line would see 10 million users annually and take more than five million cars off southwestern Ontario highways.
Trains on the planned rail link would travel up to 250 km/h, which is expected to cut travel times between Toronto and Windsor from four hours to two.
The government says Ontario is believed to be the first province to undertake a “rail transformation” on this scale.
Canada is the only G8 country that doesn’t have a high-speed rail system under construction or in operation, according to the government-commissioned report.
Premier Kathleen Wynne said not only will the high-speed rail link save people time, but it will serve as an economic driver along a corridor that’s home to more than seven million people and over 60 percent of Ontario’s economic activity.
High-speed rail has been debated since the 1970s, with excuses that the country is too large, the population is too small, and it’s not worth it. But it needs to happen now, Wynne said.
“We have lost opportunities as a province because we haven’t had this line in place,” she said Friday in London, Ont., a mid-point for the rail route.
“We’ve got to not let this be another lost moment,” she stressed.
“We’ve got to do it this time, folks.”
Ontario’s Progressive Conservative transportation critic dismissed the announcement as a re-election ploy.
“Southwestern Ontario has been waiting on high-speed rail for years,” Michael Harris said in a statement.
“Now, a year out from the election, the Wynne Liberals have shown up in London to re-announce another transit project they will never deliver on.”
Provincial New Democrats representing southwestern Ontario ridings issued a joint statement saying people in their communities “are wondering today whether this is just another hollow election promise.”
The train would travel between Toronto’s Union Station and Pearson International Airport, Guelph, Kitchener, London, Chatham, and Windsor.
