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All aboard, Montreal! Get ready to trade in those long, tiresome trips for a swift, breezy journey, as Canada is set to roll out a new high-speed train that’ll whisk you from Montreal to Toronto in just three hours.
In a Montreal press conference on Wednesday, February 19, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed the news, describing it as “the largest infrastructure project in Canadian history.”
Dubbed “Alto,” this sleek, fully electric train is designed to zip along at speeds up to 300 kilometres per hour — which is double the speed of Via Rail’s current trains.
The 1,000-kilometre route isn’t just a straight shot between Montreal and Toronto; it’ll connect Toronto, Peterborough, Ottawa, Montreal, Trois-Rivières, Laval and Quebec City. So, whether you’re planning a weekend getaway or a multi-stop trip, Alto would have you covered.
This new rail line would operate on dedicated tracks, freeing passenger trains from the slowdowns caused by sharing space with freight trains.
“Once operational, current travel times will be slashed in half – getting you from Montreal to Toronto in three hours,” reads a press release from the prime minister’s office. Right now, a VIA Rail trip between the two cities can take anywhere from five to nine hours, depending on the stops.
Trudeau emphasized that this isn’t just about speed, though. “A reliable, efficient, high-speed rail network will be a game-changer for Canadians,” he said, adding that it will also create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs.
