High speed rail cuts down on travel times, gives people more low-carbon transportation options, and creates new opportunities for workers and businesses. Ontario is supporting economic growth in Southwestern Ontario and across the province by moving forward with high speed rail along the Toronto-Windsor corridor, becoming the first province to undertake a rail transformation of this magnitude.
Premier Kathleen Wynne, Steven Del Duca, Ontario’s Minister of Transportation, and Deb Matthews, MPP for London North Centre, were in London today to announce that the province is moving ahead with preliminary design work on the project and investing $15 million in a comprehensive environmental assessment. “Building high speed rail along the Toronto-Windsor Corridor isn’t just a game changer for Southwestern Ontario- it’s going to deliver benefits all along the line.” Wynne said.Ontario will establish a new governing body to oversee the ambitious work required to design and implement high speed rail.
The announcement comes as the province releases a new report by David Collenette, Ontario’s Special Advisor on high speed rail. In 2015, Mr. Collenette was asked to assess the project’s feasibility. After extensive consultations, his report has concluded that there is a business case for high speed rail along the Toronto-Windsor corridor and that there are opportunities to engage the private sector in financing and delivering the project.
High speed rail could cut travel times between Toronto and Windsor from four hours to just over two. With high speed rail expanding Ontario’s innovation supercorridor to Windsor, businesses will be able to attract the best talent, increase their productivity and support a low-carbon innovation economy.
Proposed stops include Windsor, London, Kitchener, Guelph, and Toronto.
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