This Alto high speed rail project is not the right way to spend billions to upgrade train service in Canada.
How about for starters we try to fix what we have now and make it more reliable?
https://blog.hayman.net/2026/04/21/the-alto-misguided-highspeed-rail.html
@shayman The fundamental problem with #VIArail at present is that it runs on freight rail track, and CN and CPKC are transporting more and more freight. That's why the passenger trains take longer than they used to, and why they're frequently late.
I've wondered sometimes if, rather than building a new corridor for passenger rail, it wouldn't be better to build a new corridor for CN and CPKC, leaving the current tracks to VIA.
@shayman Trains within cities are abysmal too. Toronto has such a transit mess. Hard to retrofit but we have to do something.
I'm in Brantford; if I want to take transit to Mississauga for a meeting, it's $83 for Via, then a Go train and then a bus, probably a 2.5h trip. I just drive.
Japan seems to have figured this out, and I just read this which I found fascinating. https://worksinprogress.co/issue/why-japan-has-such-good-railways/