Montreal-Ottawa will be 1st leg of 'transformative' high-speed rail plan. Will it happen?

number one plane section of high-velocity rail in network will connect Ottawa and Montreal, minister says

What Canadian high speed rail could look like

Via Rail passenger stranded for 12 hours overnight with little information

Why can't Canada have fast trains?

The state of Canadian rail service in 1985 | Throwback

First section of high-speed rail network will connect Ottawa and Montreal, minister says

Ben Shingler

MacKinnon was asked about the 12-hour delay on a Via train yesterday, and he said he wasn't "happy at all" with the response. He said Via needs to do better — but that it will remain in operation even after the high-speed line is in place.

"We want to make sure that those communities continue to be served by an efficient and reliable train service," he said.

He also pointed out that part of the challenge for the Via line between Toronto and Montreal is that it relies in large part on tracks owned by CN Rail, which wants to get its freight to market as fast as possible.

Just 59 per cent of Via trains arrived on time in 2023, according to last year's annual report.

During the media availability, reporters peppered the transportation minister about the latest Conservative defection: on Thursday, Conservative MP Michael Ma crossed the floor and joined the Liberal caucus — inching the leading party closer to getting out of its minority government predicament. (Carney’s government is now one MP shy of a majority.)

It makes sense that MacKinnon is getting these questions; his other job is House leader.

Cryptically, Mackinnon said, "There are others like Mr. Ma," but he wouldn't name names.

"We did not create this situation where Conservatives are frustrated with the direction their leadership has forced them to take," he said. "There are lots of Conservatives, I assure you, who do not like the Poilievre approach."

First section of high-speed rail network will connect Ottawa and Montreal, minister says

Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon says the first leg of a planned high-speed rail network between Quebec and Toronto will link Ottawa and Montreal, saying the relatively short, flat and straight section is the most logical option for development.

The theme of this announcement: the project is realistic. In fact, the announcement has included repeated reassurance that construction will indeed take place. This comes amid widespread skepticism; many Canadians get the sense that this is more aspirational than realistic.

Officials have underscored widespread public consultations, expected to begin in 2026, as well as the geographic benefits of starting with the line connecting Ottawa to Montreal via Laval. "We can point to three cities on a map and say, 'This is where we will start construction,'" one official told the crowd, adding “This is nation-building stuff.”

Still, it's an expensive and difficult project, practically and politically. So it's understandable that skepticism persists.

Ben Shingler

Consultations on the Montreal-Ottawa line will begin next month.

Alto — the Crown corporation overseeing the project — says those will include open houses, virtual sessions and an online platform where the public can provide their thoughts. It will also consult with Indigenous communities, municipalities and public institutions about the plans.

As my colleague Peter Zimonjic reported last month, the Liberal government has moved to streamline how it expropriates land ahead of the high-speed rail project, in a way that some say could compromise property rights and lead to costly mistakes.

It’s a "historic day" in Canada, according to Transport Minister MacKinnon.

The desired corridor — stretching from Toronto to Quebec City — will span some 1,000 kilometres, with trains travelling up to 300 km/h.

The first 200-kilometre stretch connecting Montreal to Ottawa is the shortest and flattest point of the proposed corridor.

The government insists this is possible, and says it's fast-tracking the project, as my colleague Peter hinted.

"This acceleration will allow construction to begin in four years. I want to linger on that point: four years," MacKinnon said during his announcement.

Speaking to a packed room of journalists, MPs and other officials in a glass room overlooking the Ottawa River, Transport Minister Steve MacKinnon described the planned project as "one of the largest public works ever contemplated in the history of our country."

He began the announcement by talking about how much of a priority this is for Prime Minister Mark Carney, saying that high-speed rail was identified early as a "transformative" project under the Major Projects Office.

MacKinnon said that the first thing Carney said to him in appointing him to his current post was: "Steve, move things forward more quickly."

The trains, he said, could reach speeds of up to 300 km/h, cutting travel time in half, and construction would start in four years — in 2029.

MacKinnon garnered laughs from the room when he said he wanted to repeat the breaking ground date of four years time. They are aware of high-speed rail's disappointing history in this country.

Good morning! I’m Anya Zoledziowski, a senior writer on the news desk. As the transport minister starts to make the official announcement, here's what we know so far:

Ben Shingler

Via Rail passenger stranded for 12 hours overnight with little information

Via Rail passengers travelling from Toronto to Ottawa were stranded for 12 hours overnight after an earlier train broke down near Brockville, Ont. The breakdown also disrupted two later trains.

If it ever happens, a speedy train would be a welcome option for travellers — especially those faced with unforeseen delays.

Today's announcement comes a day after dozens of Via Rail passengers travelling from Toronto to Ottawa were stranded for 12 hours overnight, after an earlier train broke down near Brockville, Ont.

There were more problems this morning: a train from Toronto to Ottawa has been stuck for more than an hour because of mechanical issues.

When the train runs on time, the trip from Toronto to Montreal currently takes more than five hours, but a high-speed rail line could cut that to three.

Ben Shingler

Hi, I’m Ben Shingler, a reporter based in Montreal.

I looked into the prospect of a high-speed rail line connecting Montreal and Toronto last year, before it was announced by the Trudeau government.

The project has been promised by politicians for decades, but experts say the region has the population density to make it work. Consider: more than half of Canada's population lives along the corridor between Quebec City and Windsor, Ont. (which some rail proponents hope is eventually included in the route).

The proposed line is comparable to high-speed rail in Italy between Turin and Naples in terms of the population served and distance covered.

As reporting from Radio-Canada has revealed today, the first section of the network to be built between Quebec and Toronto will link Ottawa and Montreal.

That would be a fantastic achievement for commuters and business travellers in both cities if, of course, ground is broken by 2029, as the government's plan suggests. Past experiences with transit projects suggest it could take much longer than that.

In Canada, there is a long history of proposing, studying and announcing possible high-speed rail links in the Windsor to Quebec City corridor. Yet Canada remains the only G7 nation without some form of a high-speed rail network.

The question is: will it be different this time? The Liberal government is betting big that it will.

Prime Minister Mark Carney ran for office promising to build big things fast. His government passed legislation to speed up approvals and environmental assessments and streamline how the federal government deals with major projects, but the true test of these initiatives really rests on how long it takes something to get built.

Other major projects may break ground sooner, but if Carney's government can meet its promises on a project like high-speed rail, it will go a long way to show a government led by him can do things faster and bigger than governments that came before him.

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