Expert Railway Planner Publishes Independent High-Speed Rail Study for Canada High-Speed Rail Canada has published a significant new document on its Ontario-Quebec Studies page   LINK : a comprehensive high-speed rail conceptual design and business case for the entire Windsor-Quebec City corridor, authored by renowned railway expert Michael Schabas. About Michael Schabas: Leading Voice in High-Speed Rail Planning Michael Schabas brings decades of international railway expertise to Canadian transportation planning. The Canadian-born transport professional has shaped urban rail, intercity rail, high-speed rail, and long-distance railway projects across three continents, including Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Career Highlights Transport planner with extensive high-speed rail experience Railway operator and developer Consultant to major Canadian transportation agencies including VIA Rail, Ontario Ministry of Transportation, Canada Infrastructure Bank, Transport Ca...

  CN TurboTrain - Lorne Perry Collection History My involvement in passenger rail advocacy began around 1990, inspired by legendary Transport 2000 Canada advocate Harry Gow. However, my fascination with high-speed trains started decades earlier with Canada's TurboTrain—I was captivated by its modern, sleek design. In 2008, I founded High-Speed Rail Canada as an educational resource dedicated to Canadian high-speed rail. As a historian of Canada's high-speed rail past, I've dedicated myself to collecting and posting previous studies on the High-Speed Rail Canada website. My goal was to digitize and make accessible all previous Canadian high-speed rail studies. Today, that website has accomplished this mission. Previous Attempts at High-Speed Rail in Canada Whether in the Calgary-Edmonton corridor or the Ontario-Quebec region, one pattern remains constant: whenever high-speed rail is proposed, naysayers emerge with tired, repetitive arguments against it. Having observed ...

Canada's High-Speed Rail Dream Becomes Reality: Ottawa-Montreal Line Marks Historic First Step CTV News Renee Rogers talked with Paul Langan, the founder of High-Speed Rail Canada.  After decades of discussion dating back to the Brian Mulroney era, Canada's long-awaited high-speed rail project is finally moving beyond the planning stage. The federal government announced Friday that construction will begin on the first segment connecting Ottawa and Montreal, marking the initial phase of a larger vision to link Quebec City and Toronto. The Ottawa-Montreal corridor was selected as the starting point because officials deemed it "the most logical option" and the easiest segment to complete first. According to Transport Minister's statement, this section offers a unique opportunity to connect two provinces while quickly delivering benefits to travelers, communities, and the regional economy. When fully realized, the high-speed rail line would transport passengers betw...

  The following is the press release about high-speed rail from the Government of Canada. The Toronto-Quebec City corridor is a megaregion. It’s home to 18 million people, 40 per cent of our GDP, over 700,000 students, and more than 30 colleges and universities. This dynamic hub needs a transportation system that gets people from city to city, in the fastest time possible. The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced that Canada is developing a high-speed rail network in the Toronto-Quebec City corridor . This transformative rail network will span approximately 1,000 km and reach speeds of up to 300 km/hour, with stops in Toronto, Peterborough, Ottawa, Montréal, Laval, Trois-Rivières, and Quebec City. Once operational, current travel times will be slashed in half – getting you from Montréal to Toronto in three hours. The official name of this high-speed rail service will be Alto. A country that believes in itself invests in its people and infrastructu...

Is the Wait for High-Speed Rail in Canada Finally Over! Will the decades of false hopes finally be over, and we finally see high-speed rail in Canada? Twenty-five studies and 40 years of federal government politicians have come and gone, and no action has been taken. I remember in 2009 when I went to Ottawa to speak at the Canadian Government Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure, and Communities hearings on high-speed rail in Canada. I also went to Alberta to promote the Edmonton-Calgary high-speed rail proposal. Sadly, the events of 2009 did not differ from those before and after. Now, perhaps the time has come for high-speed rail in our country. I admit I was more than skeptical about this plan when former VIA Rail CEO Yves Desjardins-Siciliano, now a Siemens Canada employee, first promoted the idea of high-frequency trains at traditional speeds. Desjardins-Siciliano continues to promote their Venture trains for the proposed high-frequency rail line, regardless of the real...