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Alto Train: Canada's Biggest Project In History

Andriyas Redel

155,581 views

Canada wants to build Alto Train: a high-speed rail project, worth $90B, connecting Toronto and Quebec City with trains traveling at 300 km/h.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction
01:35 TurboTrain
06:38 VIA Rail
11:18 High Speed Rail in Canada
13:47 Alto Train
17:37 Conclusion

Canada is the only G7 country without high-speed rail. Toronto to Montreal takes more than 5 hours with VIA Rail, slower than the same trip in 1965. Now Ottawa is betting $90 billion on Alto, the most expensive infrastructure project in Canadian history with 1,000 km of dedicated, all-electric passenger track from Toronto to Quebec City, with trains running at 300 km/h.

But why are trains in Canada so slow in the first place? It's a 60-year story... The jet-powered TurboTrain that still holds Canada's rail speed record (226 km/h, set in 1976), the birth of VIA Rail in 1977 as a tenant on CN and CP's freight tracks, the 1989 budget cuts, CN's privatization in 1995, more than 20 high-speed rail studies that went nowhere, and the High Frequency Rail project that quietly grew into Alto, now backed by the Cadence consortium with CDPQ Infra, AtkinsRéalis, SYSTRA, Keolis, SNCF and Air Canada.

WHAT IS ALTO?

Canada's high-speed rail project: from Toronto to Quebec City with 7 stations on a brand-new, 1,000 km all-electric track
Cost: $60 to $90 billion or roughly $60 to $90 million per 1 km of track
Timeline: construction starts around 2029, Ottawa to Montreal opens around 2037, full line by the mid-2040s
Why is VIA Rail always delayed? It doesn't own its tracks because CN and CP's freight trains get priority

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(All opinions are my own. Archival clips/images used under fair dealing for news, commentary, and criticism)

20 Comments

@oskarsrode2167 2 months ago Pinned

As a European, I must say a high speed rail line between cities as big and as close as this is a must.
But a HSR line is nothing without a network. Canada needs to nationalize the tracks, just like the roads are public property.
Then you need to invest heavily into the existing tracks, build extra tracks for passing (much cheaper than a new dedicated HSR line), actually control the tracks with priority for passenger trains, raise track speeds (160-200 on mainlines with intercity trains, 120-160 on regional mainlines and 120 on branch lines) and it would also be wise to electrify the intercity lines and most regional mainlines.
Then you of course need a somewhat frequent service, not just 1 train a day, and regional integrated tickets (which allow for easy travel with transfers and you can take the best route no matter which mode of transport).

@MartinRodrigue 1 month ago

As someone who's lived in China for 10 years and went from taking a slow 11 hour trin from Beijing to Shanghai and then riding the highspeed one a few years later in 4.5 hrs, I can't stress how much nicer high speed rail is. (It beats flying by a sky high mile)

@JohnStarkey-u6z 2 months ago

Don't confuse "Biggest" with "Most Expensive". For Canada, the transnational Canadian Pacific railway and the St. Lawrence Seaway were vastly "bigger" projects.

@lagmar7703 2 months ago (edited)

The amount of investigative work done for this is truly impressive. Great video! Cheers bud! 😁

@lawrenced1422 2 months ago

As someone from Thunder Bay I grew up in the 70s and 80s taking VIA to visit family in Winnipeg every year.

@JamesHawthorne-j3k 2 months ago

A great, informative, unbiased video! Please continue making these types of videos.

@philipgrice1026 1 month ago

What is overlooked here is the economic benefits of creating a high speed passenger rail corridor. When we moved to the USA in 1977 we sold our home that was around 70 miles from the center of London for £12,000. Three years later, after the main line rail service was electrified and high speed service introduced, that same home sold for £96,000! The introduction of high speed rail had effectively moved our once rural home inside the London commuter belt.

@ph11p3540 2 months ago (edited)

Edmonton and Calgary needs a similar high speed train. No more thinking of how many hours apart cities are instead of kilometers. Dedicated tracks are the only way but that means land appropriation which is hyper expensive

@TomHuston43 1 month ago

Alto high-speed rail makes sense because the Toronto–Ottawa–Montréal–Québec City corridor has the population and travel demand to support it. It could put Ottawa about 1 hour, Québec City 90 minutes, and Toronto about 3 hours from Montréal. The main concern is keeping construction costs under control.

@notnetflix2022 1 month ago

I just love all the little details you have in your editing and presentation style, first is the writing, then you’re fluent speaking but the EDITING DIRECTION IS COMPLETELY ON POINT, the cut to the train, to even the subtle details how you used that specific jacket to make the DJI microphone almost invisible and proper use of music so it blends naturally. For a channel this small and in CANADA that is just impressive

@renatusfonseca9536 1 month ago

This is a great video, appreciate the excellent research put into this. YES!!! ALTO definitely makes sense, all for it.

@DLWELD 3 weeks ago

Terrific, understated presentation! Super clear, good pace, lots of information, no AI to get in the way! - Great!

@FreekHoekstra 1 month ago

everywhere thats built high speed rail has benefited, Japan, China, Europe.
theres always the against voices that are loud, but once completed everyone forgets the pricetag and is amazed at how wonderful these things are.
it will pay for itself in time.

@Rizzo_58 2 months ago

I was talking to a politician on the election trail a couple of years ago. I brought up high speed rail from Quebec to Windsor as a green project. Also, twining the freight rail line from coast to coast would be a green project as well. Something that would take a lot of cars and trucks off the road. Not long after the announcement came for this high speed rail. So I agree this is the right time for Canada to put this together.

@六輪生活 2 months ago

I am writing from Japan. I am not sure if a machine translation will convey my message clearly. I have visited British Columbia a few times. Here in Japan, there is a deadlock regarding the unbuilt section of the West Kyushu Shinkansen, with local governments, the national government, and JR Kyushu unable to reach an agreement. Meanwhile, construction is underway to extend the Hokkaido Shinkansen line. The project involves a large number of tunnels to mitigate snow-related issues, control noise, and enable high-speed travel. Due to the engineering challenges involved in tunneling, it is said that the line may not open until close to 2040, and construction costs continue to balloon.

@dylanjhalltech8313 2 months ago

My great grandfather worked on Canadian railway as a porter. My father worked for CN. We travelled on so many versions of CN and Via Rail trains, from Nova Scotia to BC

@greatcanadian995 2 months ago

This is very misleading. Toronto to Montreal is 5hrs 15 minutes, Montreal to Quebec is 3 hrs approximately. Total 8.25 hrs. You don't count the waiting time between trains. You can take the 6:30 AM from TO and switch in Mtl to the QC train with a 45 minute gap. In addition, are they going to run a high speed train on one set of track and continue running trains on the route that goes through Oshawa, Belleville, Brockville, Cornwall? There used to be the turbo would do the trip in about 4 hours. Once the rails were sold to CN, everything slowed down. Via spent billions on venture train sets and CN is blocking them from running at max speed, even though the trains have been tested thoroughly. Time for the government to turn the screws to CN and force them to be more accomodating

@10catapiller 2 months ago

The best thing about Pierre's press clip near the end of this video came following multiple weeks of meeting with lobbyists from car companies, oil companies, tire companies, car insurance companies, nearly anything to do with owning or driving a car. It's always been about corporations losing customers and thus profit that has kept any form of legitimate rail infrastructure from getting it off the ground. We need rail, at the very least in this corridor.

@AK.__ 1 month ago

Great video. It makes sense. Even if it will be completed in 2040 and will be outdated - it still makes a sense, since giving to VIA Rail their own tracks.