David Collenette According to John Michael McGrath, he has stated on twitter that the Premier's Office confirms David Collenette has been removed as chair of high-speed rail planning advisory board. In doing so, Doug Ford just got rid of Canada's most knowledgable former federal politician on passenger rail. No real surprize to supporters of modern passenger rail service. There has never been a provincial or federal provincial Tory party that has supported modern passenger rail in Canada. Get ready for more massive road building to further sink Ontarians into debt, environmental chaos and lost productivity from being stuck in traffic.

David Collenette Talks High Speed Rail on CBC Afternoon Drive Radio Show Former federal transportation minister, David Collenette will take the lead to bring high-speed rail to Ontario. Ontario Transport Minister Kathryn McGarry and Kitchener Centre MPP Daiene Vernile announced Tuesday that Collenette will chair the provincial government's high-speed advisory team. This comes as work is set to begin on a $15 million-dollar environmental assessment to study the feasibility of high-speed rail between Kitchener-Waterloo and London this spring. Listen to the interview with Mr. Collenette . http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/london/former-federal-transportation-minister-david-collenette-to-lead-ontario-s-high-speed-rail-project-1.4534262 

Ontario Appoints Chair to Drive High Speed Rail Project Forward Ontario has appointed the Honourable David Collenette to lead Ontario's High Speed Rail (HSR) Planning Advisory Board-continuing progress to bring high speed rail service to the province and cut travel times between Toronto and Windsor.  Kathryn McGarry, Minister of Transportation, and Daiene Vernile, MPP for Kitchener Centre, were in Waterloo today to announce Mr. Collenette's appointment. A former federal Minister of Transport, Mr. Collenette was the province's special advisor for high speed rail. As Chair of the HSR Planning Advisory Board, Mr. Collenette will continue to provide strategic support and advise government on this landmark project. The introduction of HSR would be a first in Canada, connecting communities from Toronto to Windsor as part of Ontario's Innovation SuperCorridor. High speed trains would travel at up to 250 kilometres per hour on a combination of existing track and new dedi...

CBC's Craig Norris interviews Paul Langan, founder of High Speed Rail Canada on the Ontario government plan for high speed rail in Ontario. CLICK HERE   to listen to the whole interview aired on May 24th, 2017.

It is hard not to by cynical when the Ontario provincial government announces there we be yet another study on high speed rail in Ontario. This one costs $15 million. The David Collenette HSR study is the 22nd  study that has not produced any results so are things any different this time around. The Wynne government has announced the study today on the Friday of a long weekend. This is definitely not a preferred time to have a press conference. Governments usually reserve this time for bad news or news or when they cannot get any high profile media. PRESS CONFERENCE FREE DOWNLOAD Here is the press conference with Premier Kathleen Wynne and Steve Del Duca in London Ontario today. https://archive.org/details/May19HighSpeedRailPressConference COSTS OF HIGH SPEED RAIL 1996 - 2017 COMPARISON The David Collenette study recommends that a full environmental assessment be done and suggests two different cost scenarios depending on speeds. 300 km/h at a cost of $149 million/km...

 Riding on Canada's Last High Speed Rail Train - The Turbo Train in the 1970s Multiple sources are stating the long awaited David Collenette report on the business case for high speed rail between, Windsor,London, Kitchener and Toronto will be released in May. What the study will actually say is of interest to many? Just recently Liberal Deb Matthews seemed to state the high speed rail plan  was just being studied with no commitment to implmentation. High Speed Rail Canada will be watching closely and analyzing the study. We also wonder what the definition of "high speed" will be? At the very least the trains should travel over 200km/h. Which would have been the definition over a decade ago. Now it is routine for high speed trains to travel 300km/h. Unfortunately in the United States of America the definition of "high speed" has been severely modified to basically mean any train running on newer tracks! In Canada, the term for "high speed...

David Collenette Only twice have Canada’s passenger trains caught half a break from any government.   To find the reasons why, you have to examine the high-level personalities involved on those two occasions. The most recent opportunity was created when Finance Minister Jim Flaherty – an admitted rail passenger buff and regular user – swung nearly $1 billion to VIA.  Sadly, VIA frittered this away – with the uniformed consent of the government that awarded the capital infusion – and let CN hoover up most of those public funds, souring any chance of fuller funding by the Harper government. However, the first time VIA was given a fair shake was under Transport Minister David Collenette.  He was born in London and spent his first 10 years near Marylebone Station, where he befriended the railroaders and was rewarded with “footplate rides” on the steam engines shuttling back and forth to the loco shed.  When he arrived in Toronto in 1957, his family lived n...

David Collenette meets in Windsor regarding high speed rail. http://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/windsor-contingent-meets-with-high-speed-rail-czar

Former Liberal federal Minister of Transport David Collenette, and pro passenger rail advocate, is back in an advisory role for the Ontario government. http://windsorite.ca/2015/10/ontario-appoints-special-advisor-on-high-speed-rail-for-southwestern-ontario/