Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon at a press conference at the Ottawa International Airport on Friday.PATRICK DOYLE/The Canadian Press
The historic columned train station in downtown Ottawa, currently home to the Senate, is not an ideal location for a high-speed rail terminal, Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon says.
Speaking with reporters on Friday, the minister pointed out that the building is too close to the Rideau Canal and is just steps away from the site of a massive sinkhole that opened 10 years ago during construction of the city’s light-rail train tunnel.
“We saw on the Rideau street cave-in, when the light rail was being built, that the geology of that area can be very problematic,” he said during an unrelated announcement at the Ottawa airport on Friday.
Boom concrete pumps fill a large sinkhole that formed on Rideau Street in Ottawa in June, 2016.The Canadian Press
“Ottawa has a train station. In fact, an architecturally renowned train station. That is one site that will obviously be assessed. But I would not rule out exploring other sites closer to downtown.”
Ottawa’s original Union Station opened in 1912, but hasn’t been used as a train station in 60 years. Business leaders in the capital, including the Ottawa Board of Trade, Invest Ottawa and Ottawa Tourism have urged the government to bring high-speed trains to a downtown train station.
Ottawa’s current Via Rail train station is on Tremblay Road, east of downtown, and is along the city’s light rail line. It was built in the 1960s.
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Crown corporation Alto recently wrapped up initial consultations on a proposed route for a dedicated high-speed passenger rail line that would link Toronto and Quebec City, with stops in Peterborough, Ottawa, Montreal, Laval and Trois-Rivières.
Alto chief executive Martin Imbleau was in Quebec City this week, where he largely ruled out using the city’s Via Rail station, Gare Du Palais, in the city’s historic district. In media interviews, he said that location would be too challenging and would lead to slower travel times.
Alto has promised to release an updated plan in the fall with a more precise route between Ottawa and Montreal, including decisions on station locations.
The government has set 2029 as the date for a final decision on whether it will go ahead with the project and begin construction that same year. The plan is for the construction on the Ottawa-Montreal link to begin first.
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Alto has not yet released a detailed cost estimate for the project, but Mr. Imbleau has said it could be in the range of $60-billion to $90-billion.
It would see high-speed electric trains travelling at speeds of about 320 kilometres an hour, promising to cut current travel times in half.
In recent months since the launch of the public consultations, the project has faced strong opposition from some residents in rural communities whose land may be affected or expropriated.
Twelve Eastern Ontario municipal leaders released an open letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday, urging him to halt further development of the project and engage in a “comprehensive” consultation process with rural municipalities.
“We are not opposed to high-speed rail in principle, but we demand that it be designed in a way that benefits all Canadians equitably—without sacrificing the livelihoods and way of life of our rural communities. As Mayors/Reeves, we speak on behalf of 215,000 residents in our region,” they wrote.
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Alto responded to rural concerns this week on its website. The Crown corporation said it plans to offer “fair long-term compensation” to affected landowners, include underpass and overpass connections, and allow landowners to use the access roads that will run outside the fenced tracks.
Phil Mount, vice-president of policy for the National Farmers Union, said the new information from Alto has not addressed members’ concerns.
“Given the lack of transparency demonstrated by the Alto team throughout their ‘consultation’ phase, it does not surprise me that they are delivering empty reassurances to rural communities and farmers,” he said in an e-mail.
“Their reassurances are actually aimed at their urban constituents, who are mostly on board and just want to know that any impacted farmers will be treated right.”