Public opposition is mounting against Ottawa’s proposed Alto high speed rail line, with thousands of Canadians signing a Commons petition demanding Parliament halt the multibillion-dollar project before construction begins.Blacklock's Reporter says Petition E-7203 calls on MPs to “cease further advancement of the Alto high speed rail project,” warning the estimated $60 billion to $90 billion price tag could translate into roughly $9,000 per Canadian family of four while benefiting only a limited portion of the population.The petition, sponsored by Conservative MP Scott Reid, gathered 4,526 signatures within its first 72 hours online. Reid has publicly urged Canadians to “Stop Alto high speed rail before the damage is done.”The protest effort began shortly after Parliament passed the High Speed Rail Network Act, legislation that allows property expropriation for the project by Alto Corp., the renamed VIA High Frequency Rail corporation tasked with overseeing the planned 1,000-kilometre electrified route linking Toronto and Québec City.Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon announced last December 12 that construction on the first segment, from Ottawa to Montréal, is slated to begin in 2029. .While the full cost has not been finalized, departmental projections have placed the overall budget between $60 billion and $90 billion.Reid has sharply criticized the financial projections, telling the Commons the figures amount to little more than guesswork. He cited international examples of rail megaprojects plagued by major overruns, including Japan’s Joetsu Shinkansen, the U.S. Northeast Corridor, the Copenhagen Metro, Montréal’s Laval metro extension and Minneapolis’ Hiawatha light rail line, all of which saw costs balloon well beyond initial estimates.At Senate national finance committee hearings on February 25, Alto CEO Martin Imbleau acknowledged the wide cost range reflects preliminary engineering and evolving assumptions. He described current figures as internal working estimates based on bidder input and international comparisons, noting more detailed analysis is still required.Imbleau said the 200-kilometre Montréal–Ottawa stretch would be the first phase and could take about seven years to complete, targeting service by 2037. Additional construction east toward Trois-Rivières and west toward Peterborough and Toronto could begin roughly two years after work starts on the initial segment.He conceded he is more confident in timelines and figures for the first phase than for later stages, as further analysis has yet to be completed on the remainder of the corridor.
