Ontario Construction News staff writer
High-speed trains running between Ontario and Quebec centres took a step closer to fruition with the announcement that an engineering team has been hired to do analysis related to the High Frequency Rail (HFR) project.
The Joint Project Office (JPO) between VIA Rail Canada (VIA Rail) and the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) announced that a joint venture formed by AECOM and Arup will act as the engineers for the analysis of the corridor linking Québec City, Montréal, Ottawa, Toronto, and other centres.
“We are pleased to have secured the expertise of these renowned firms. This is an important step of our mandate to complete the de-risking engineering and technical analysis, which are components required for a final recommendation on High Frequency Rail,” said Vernon Barker, JPO project director.
The engineers will be tasked with the job of supporting the JPO with all technical and engineering matters, during the pre-procurement, due-diligence phase of the project. The scope of their work includes general technical and engineering support for all of JPO work streams, and specific planning and engineering activities. The team will also support the JPO in obtaining an environmental assessment, undertaking site investigation studies, including geotechnical studies.
Some key details about the project:
- Last year the Canada Infrastructure Bank committed $55 million in funding for planning and pre-procurement work, and to work with VIA Rail to further explore VIA Rail’s proposal for the High-Frequency Rail project
- The Government of Canada added $16.1 million in funding for Transport Canada and VIA Rail to support VIA Rail’s contributions to the work of the JPO
- High Frequency Rail (HFR) is VIA Rail Canada’s proposal to transform passenger rail service in Canada. It would create new trains on dedicated tracks between major centres (Québec City-Montréal-Ottawa-Toronto). New routes would be established on discontinued and lower density rail infrastructure between Toronto-Peterborough-Ottawa, Ottawa-Dorion-Montréal and Montréal-Trois-Rivières-Québec City
- The High Frequency Rail project involves separating passenger and freight rail operations, creating more capacity for sustainable transportation for both people and goods, as well as the opportunity to optimize current services along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Last month, VIA Rail said it was delighted that the federal government had renewed its support for the HFR project.
“VIA Rail’s HFR project is one of the government’s priorities within the Minister of Transport’s new mandate. Minister (Marc) Garneau has always demonstrated a profound interest in our proposal and over the years has used the train on a regular basis for his inter-city transportation, along with an increasing number of Canadians,” said Cynthia Garneau, President and Chief Executive Officer of VIA Rail.
“HFR is a complex and ambitious collective project that aims to make VIA Rail a greater contributor to a more sustainable and prosperous Canada.”
According to VIA Rail, train ridership is increasing:
- Since 2014, VIA Rail has seen 32 per cent growth in ridership across Canada, and 34 per cent growth within the Québec-Windsor corridor
- VIA Rail will also be looking for ways to improve accessibility for all Canadians and provide more options for families to explore our national parks, as was also highlighted in the Minister of Transport’s mandate letter.