Is Via Rail’s new high frequency rail project too little too late?
‘I think it’s probably a step in the right direction’
Passengers arrive at Ottawa's Tremblay station from Montreal on Feb. 23. (Photo by Owen Spillios-Hunter).
In recent years, Canada has lagged behind the world’s passenger rail industry. Its “antiquated” rail system of rolling stock designed in the 1970’s, is not comparable to the high speed rail offerings in other countries like Spain and Japan.
The federal government is looking to change that with their “high frequency rail” project.
In a news release Feb. 17, the government announced the launch of their “request for qualifications” phase. After its completion this summer, the government will invite the top three private partner candidates to submit proposals in a bid for the job.
After one private partner is chosen in the summer of 2024, they will work collaboratively with Via HFR, Via Rail’s new subsidiary, to plan, deliver and maintain the project.
Via HFR and the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Transport did not respond to comment directly on the project’s progress though.
Canada’s long history of rail
Canada is a country built on rail infrastructure, but hasn’t been at the top of rail travel in nearly a century. To understand the modern Canadian rail debacle, it’s important to understand what led to its fall from popularity.
Ryan Katz-Rosene is a University of Ottawa professor. He looks at intercity travel in Canada in relation to environmental policy. Katz-Rosene’s doctorate was on the failure to develop high speed rail in Canada.
He mentioned three reasons for Canada’s inadequate rail system.
After the rise in popularity of consumer personal automobiles, the oil sector, the automobile industry, and the tire industry ”really lobbied and pushed hard to make highway development and the automobile the vehicle of the future,” Katz-Rosene said.
Via Rail passengers exit a Via Rail passenger train at Tremblay station in Ottawa on Feb.23. (Photo by Owen Spillios-Hunter)
‘That marked the first death of rail’
The airline sector also played a role in rail travel’s decline in Canada.
Canadian Pacific, a major rail company, got into the business of air travel in the early 1940’s. According to Katz-Rosene, they viewed the rise of consumer air travel as the future of intercity travel and abandoned passenger rail to focus entirely on freight.
This sets up the final piece of the puzzle, where in the 1970’s, Via Rail was founded as a crown corporation “essentially to save the idea of passenger rail,” Katz-Rosene said.
The big problem now is although the tracks were created, in part, from heavy government subsidies, freight companies still own them.
“The rail industry today is a fledgling, under-resourced, passenger rail system that depends whole heartedly on freight lines,” Katz-Rosene said.
Katz-Rosene said that now Via Rail’s passenger service runs at the whim of freight companies like Canadian Pacific, whose cargo always takes priority.
This leads to the significant andfrequent delays that are seen today.
A customer is helped by a Via Rail employee at Montreal’s Gare Centrale, departing to Toronto on the current shared line through Kingston Ont. on Feb.23. (Photo by Owen Spillios-Hunter).
High Frequency Project
Today, the high frequency project seems to show the federal government’s priorities are shifting in favour of developing modern passenger rail.
The proposed high frequency line between Toronto and Quebec City will connect more Canadians to the rail network.
The brand-new dedicated line will travel through communities such as Peterborough Ont., Laval Que. and Trois-Rivieres Que., which aren’t already connected to the network.
Peterborough Mayor, Jeffrey Leal, spoke enthusiastically about the rail proposition. He viewed it as an important transportation link for the city and for Canada.
“I think there’s nothing but upsides with this particular project – no doubt in my mind.”
Leal said that the new rail line might provide more incentive for people working in Toronto to move to Peterborough.
“There’s no question, in a world now where people have the ability to work from anywhere, Peterborough will become an attractive destination,” Leal said.
Leal also hopes that it will put Peterborough on the map in terms of a tourism destination.
“The greater Peterborough region has a lot to offer,” Leal said. “We’re in the process of building a brand-new Canadian Canoe Museum – a national museum.”
Leal said he is also excited for the opportunity to reduce the region’s carbon emissions.
“In an era of climate change… I believe citizens are looking for opportunities to use trains and transit to reduce their reliance on automobiles,” Leal said.
“Your ability to get to a destination with a high speed or a high frequency train makes that option much more viable."
However, Katz-Rosene was cautious about the potential positive environmental impacts.
“From a climate and environmental point of view, I think we need to really think about how to decarbonize and come up with a more sustainable intercity travel system,” Katz-Rosene said.
“It’s not necessarily the case that if you build it, they will come.”
High-speed vs high frequency
Most of the line will be dedicated to passengers, which will allow Via Rail to regain control of the track infrastructure for the route.
According to Via Rail’s press release, this means the line will move passengers more quickly, reliably and frequently than ever before.
Via Rail’s goal is to reduce trip times by 25 per cent, taking an Ottawa-Toronto trip down from four and a half hours, to three hours and 15 minutes.
Passengers leave Ottawa’s Tremblay train station with their luggage on Feb. 23. (Photo by Owen Spillios-Hunter).
Although this would be a great improvement, some are critical about the project, saying it doesn’t go far enough. There has been a contentious debate about bringing high-speed rail to Canada.
While there isn’t an official definition of high-speed rail, most modern high-speed networks operate around 300 km/h.
According to Terry Johnson, the president of the non-profit transit advocacy group Transport Action Canada, the federal government has studied high speed and high frequency rail project potential in Canada, but haven’t published any of their findings.
“The lack of transparency over the past seven years is coming back to cause trouble for the government,” Johnson said.
Johnson said it’s causing confusion for the public, such as rumours about the current project being a high speed one. The federal government could fix this by publishing the cost-benefit analysis of the different rail options.
Officially the train is only slated to run up to 200 km/h.
For Toronto YouTuber and transit advocate Reece Martin, the plan isn’t enough.
“I think that is where the current proposal falls short,” said Martin. “A high-speed service can also be high frequency.”
Martin went on to say even more critically that the specific language of “high frequency” is just “branding trying to hide what is a bad project.”
Katz-Rosene was also somewhat critical about Canada’s lack of high-speed rail historically.
Canada was “at the forefront” of high-speed rail in the 1960’s, with the TurboTrain which was designed to run up to 270 km/h. However, Canada never had any of the necessary rail lines for it to run at high speeds.
“It was kind of disappointing… a metaphor for Canada’s rail policy,” said Katz-Rosene.
Although, Katz-Rosene was unsure Via Rail’s high frequency project would benefit from high-speed rail.
Katz-Rosene said that “from a climate point of view, it’s not the best way to decarbonize our system.”
This is largely because he isn’t sure that a high-speed rail line could take enough demand from cars and planes to warrant the increased energy draw required for high-speed systems.
“There was a time, there was a place for it, but … we kind of missed our window,” Katz-Rosene said.