[wave46]

Put me in the skeptical column. HSR works in Europe because of the density of highly populated cities in close proximity to one another.

To use France as an example, the metro areas of France connected to SNCF's HSR are much larger than their Canadian counterparts in Ontario.

Given the same funding, improvements in VIA rail service/infrastructure would yield the best per-dollar value for longer distance routes (ex. Montreal-Ottawa-Toronto and London-Toronto) and GO transit rail routes. Give any leftovers to the cities to improve local transit - more person-hours overall are lost commuting within a given city than between cities spaced far apart.