Alto Back in The News – Kingston Stop “Probably In”

Martin Imbleau, President and Chief Executive Officer of Alto Rail, did a new round of interviews last week about the next phase for the project.

Among other things, he said that the final route for the high-speed line between Montreal and Ottawa will be announced this fall, and that Alto plans to announce the final route from Ottawa to Toronto in the spring of 2027.

In an interview on CBC radio, he said that during the consultation period this past winter, the comments advocating for a station in Kingston were “kind of persuasive.”

In June, at a press conference in Kingston, Federal Minister of Transportation Steven MacKinnon said that he was instructing Imbleau to study the option of a Kingston Ato station, and a month later Imbleau to Halli Cotnam of CBC Ottawa that “a stop in Kingston is “probably in”, and that Kingston “is doable”.

The added distance to the route by adding Kingston the mix “will not have a significant impact on the travel time between Ottawa and Toronto,” he said.

He said he is committed to a 3-hour maximum travel time between Montreal and Toronto, 2 hours between Ottawa and Toronto.

Imbleau also told Cotnam that there will two Alto services, an express service with minimal stops, running up to 20 times a day, and a less frequent multi-stop service that will serve the smaller communities such as Kingston, Laval and Trois Rivieres. He did not say whether Peterborough will be one of the express stops or one of the less frequent stops.

He said having less frequent stops for smaller cities in between larger centres is the way high speed rail operates successfully in France , Spain and other European countries.

“There will be four tracks through Kingston” to facilitate trains passing through at higher speed and others that are stopping.

It was unclear if the time window of three hours from Montreal to Toronto applies to all Alto trips, or just to the express trips.

“The service needs to be fast, reliable, and cheap,” Imbeau concluded.

Imbleau said that when it comes time for Alto to acquire land, the corporation will do its best to come to agreements with property owners and avoid expropriations. It will also take into account not only market value of each land parcel but the potential value of land use to the owner over next 100 years to determine a fair price. This will add significant value to farmers who will be losing parts of their farms to the rail line.

Imbleau also said that Alto will make sure that will make sure local road closures that are necessary to  build a straight, fenced in 1000 km rail line will have minimal impact on travel times between rural communities.

As part of its work developing a route coming through Kingston, Alto has secured a non-disclosure agreement from the City of Kingston regarding any discussions they have with staff or council in the City.

South Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal supported the efforts by Kingston Mayor Bryan Paterson's to have Kingston included in Alto's plans.

When contacted, Ron Vandewal said that he made it clear early on in the consultation period that he, along with the South Frontenac Council, oppose the line coming through South Frontenac.

“When I found out that Mayor Paterson wanted Alto to come through Kingston, I met with him and agreed to support what he was trying to do, but with the understanding that the line will not come through South Frontenac, which is still our priority.”

South Frontenac Council has not signed and non-disclosure agreement with Alto.

“We have not been approached by them to sign one, which I take as a good sign,” said Vandewal.

Alto will be meeting with municipal officials in the coming weeks, as the next phase of the project ramps up.

The focus for Alto for the rest of this year will likely be the Montreal to Ottawa section, which will be the first to be built if Alto ultimately gets the go ahead from the Federal government and the financing it requires to start building,