MP DEAN DEL MASTRO CLARIFIES HIS POSITION ON HIGH-SPEED RAIL

January 08, 2009

(Thursday, January 8, 2009 – PETERBOROUGH, ON)  With regard to an article published yesterday by David Akin of the Canwest News Service titled “MP Proposes High-Speed Rail for Three Cities”, Dean Del Mastro – Member of Parliament for Peterborough Riding would like to offer some additional information.
 
As Chair of the “Rail Caucus”, I am always looking for new, innovative and efficient ways to transport goods and people by rail, both in Ontario and across the nation.  Last June, during the annual Rail Days on the Hill Conference, hosted by the Railway Association of Canada I was pleased to take part in a panel with the Honourable David Collenette were I floated the idea of a high-speed rail link connecting Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.  I am pleased that further discussions have taken place in this regard and that the idea is generating further thought and discussion.
 
While the idea of a high-speed link along the Lakeshore corridor has been around for at least the last 20 years, the cost of such a project is significant and has often been cited as the only cause for non-completion.  This is due to the lack of an existing right-of-way along the Lakeshore route making it necessary to purchase the right-of-way which is a process that could stretch out for years.
 
The new route that I have proposed would take the high-speed rail service in an arc from Toronto, through Ottawa and on to Montreal, using an already existing right-of-way.  The Lakeshore option currently leaves Ottawa without high-speed service, which should exclude it as an option in any event.  This proposed route, which has been the historical corridor for rail travel between Toronto and Ottawa, would cut at least 80 km out of the current distance to travel between Toronto and Ottawa by rail and at proposed speeds between 240 and 260 km/hr; passengers could expect to make the trip in about two hours or less than half the time that the current service requires.
 
From a financial stand-point, this proposed route could be built for a substantially lower cost than that of the Lakeshore route and construction could start almost immediately.  Additionally, this new service would not be mutually exclusive of the existing VIA Rail service currently being offered along the Lakeshore using traditional equipment.
 
I applaud the process that has been undertaken by the provinces of Quebec and Ontario in conjunction with the Federal Government with respect to high-speed rail and I trust that they will consider this route in their study.