High-speed rail becomes further reality for region
Posted Nov 22, 2018 08:58:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The previous Liberal government committed $11 billion to starting a high speed rail corridor between Toronto and Windsor, that would stop in Kitchener.
The entire project is now under the microscope according to the Ontario Conservative government.
They say that they're expanding their studies to see if bolstering existing systems, such as bussing and passenger rail, would be a better solution.
Councillor-elect for Wilmot Township Angie Hallman says that she's happy that the government is taking its time with the project.
“I'm happy to see that they're looking at options,” says Hallman. “I believe that there is a crisis between Kitchener-Waterloo and Toronto. Mind you, from Kitchener-Waterloo to Windsor, I think we need to look at this more closely and maximize our current rail system.”
Paul Langan is an activist for high-speed rail, and he told The Mike Farwell Show on 570 NEWS that bolstering the current rail system will come with a hefty price tag.
“There's a substantial amount of money, even if you want to do that,” says Langan. “Tell me that the Ford Government is going to spend $2 billion on passenger rail, when no Progressive Conservative government (provincially) has spent any significant money on it since Bill Davis. I think we're in a lot of trouble.”
Angie Hallman says that the original plan proposed by the Liberals moved too fast, and was fiscally irresponsible.
She also says that the plan threatened valuable agricultural land.
“We need to protect our agriculture,” says Hallman. “When you create these systems, you divide communities, and obviously Wilmot Township was going to be one of them.”
Langan disagrees, recalling his time spent on high-speed rail in Portugal and Spain.
“True high-speed rail is on designated corridors,” says Langan. “It's all on bridges and overpasses, farms are still connected. That is just incorrect to state that farms are cut off.”
Both Hallman and Langan agree that the 401 corridor is in a crisis for traffic congestion.
“The reality is, if we don't fix it, we're going to be in gridlock,” says Langan. “There's certainly countless studies from the Toronto Chamber of Commerce on how many millions is lost per day on productivity.”
Hallman says that she thinks that focusing on existing infrastructure is the right solution for now.
Langan adds that, in his opinion, adding more buses is a mistake, and that “that's how we got into this mess in the first place.”
