Kingston Likely to Get High-Speed Rail Stop, According to Alto CEO

The CEO of the Crown corporation planning a high-speed rail link between Toronto and Quebec City mentioned that Kingston, Ont., will likely have a stop due to public demand.

“It’s doable, the ridership is very strong because it’s a large community, it seems to be making a lot of sense,” Martin Imbleau told CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning on Wednesday.

He explained that most Alto trains would travel through Kingston, Laval and Trois-Rivières without stopping, allowing for quicker express service between larger cities.

Transport Minister Steven Mac Kinnon stated last month that his office is “going to take a very, very long, strong and positive look” at including Kingston in Canada’s first high-speed rail route.

Mac Kinnon noted that Kingston ranks as the fourth-busiest Via Rail station in the country. He added that an Alto stop there would be widely utilized by students at Queen’s University.

“Business-wise, we’ve looked at the comments we received and it’s kind of persuasive that a stop in Kingston would make sense,” Imbleau said Wednesday.

WATCH | Imbleau’s full Ottawa Morning interview:

Alto closer to finalizing route for high-speed rail between Toronto and Quebec City

Alto CEO Martin Imbleau suggests that Kingston, Ont., is likely to get a stop on the new high-speed rail line connecting Toronto and Quebec City; however, express trains won’t necessarily stop there every time.

Alto ‘cannot stop in all the communities’

Prime Minister Mark Carney expressed his desire to start building the line within four years. The proposed Toronto-Quebec City line was introduced late last year with planned stops in Trois-Rivières, Laval, Montreal, Ottawa and Peterborough.

Alto intends to share details about the specific route between Montreal and Ottawa for public input this fall. Imbleau also mentioned potential changes around Montreal’s northwestern Mirabel suburb due to feedback from local farmers.

The segment linking Toronto and Ottawa-which includes Kingston-would follow next before completing the final section toward Quebec City.

When asked about another possible Alto stop in Smiths Falls, south of Ottawa, Imbleau indicated that Via Rail remains an option for those smaller towns.

“We cannot stop in all the communities. It needs to make sense; it needs to be fast; it needs to be economical.”

Local concerns

While some residents along the proposed route have raised their voices against what Alto could mean for their land and neighborhoods, both mayors of Kingston and South Frontenac Township hold differing views.

“[The city] would only support the high-speed rail project if there was a stop in Kingston,” Mayor Bryan Paterson told CBC on Wednesday.

Initially, Alto suggested two routes. One follows an essentially straight path between Peterborough and Ottawa while the other curves southward within a 30-minute drive from downtown Kingston.

The two mayors met back in March to show their support for an alternative scenario where the track runs further south along Highway 401 corridor with a stop included in Kingston.

This 1,000-kilometre rail line aims to utilize fully electric trains reaching speeds up to 300 km/h. It’s projected to cost between $60 billion and $90 billion.

Paterson expressed optimism regarding progress toward establishing a Kingston stop and hopes discussions will keep moving forward.

“We’re not going to take our foot off the gas pedal here because there’s still been no confirmation of any final decisions being made,” he said. “We’re going to continue pressing on behalf of Kingston.”

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has called for scrapping this project entirely.

Last month he argued it would be wiser spending these funds on reducing taxes like GST applied on used cars sold through dealerships.

“If this project ever gets built it will be 15 years from now and it will cost every family $8,000 in higher taxes,” Poilievre claimed. “It won’t remove even one car off roads; it’ll just shift passengers away from airplanes.”

The leader of Parti Québécois stated if elected later this year his administration would withdraw Quebec from Alto since investing money locally makes more sense instead.

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