The heat is on to get a high-speed rail proposal for Southwestern Ontario to the province by fall (London Free Press)
A train zooming from Toronto’s Pearson Airport to London’s airport in just more than an hour.
Hop on a bus, and you’re downtown within minutes, ready to start your high-tech job.
It’s all a bit of a pipe dream at the moment, but the marriage of London’s rapid transit plan and a high-speed rail system for Southwestern Ontario that’s being pushed by the province is a little closer to reality.
“This will be huge. It will transform Southwestern Ontario,” said Coun. Maureen Cassidy. “We see high-speed rail as transforming London and other municipalities in Southwestern Ontario.”
Former federal transport minister David Collenette, Ontario’s point person on a high-speed rail system from Toronto to Windsor, recently made the rounds in Kitchener-Waterloo, London and Windsor, eager to get a plan for a report due in October.
For decades, high-speed rail has been talked about for Southwestern Ontario but only in the past year has it become politically active, with the province committed to spend tens of billions of dollars on major infrastructure projects over the next decade.
At the same time, London is trying to decide on its options for a rapid transit system to help move people and guide future development along its lines under a vision of a more compact city core.
“(The province) will be working with our staff so (both systems) are seamlessly integrated,” Cassidy said, adding “city council as a whole is extremely in support of high-speed rail.”
London has seen a brain drain, especially in the tech sector, that could be reversed if a commute to Toronto could be shaved down to a 77 minutes with high-speed rail — extending the benefits of working in the mega-city to cities like London, too far afield now to be in Toronto’s regular commuter orbit and rail-linked to it only by Via Rail passenger service.
Deputy Premier Deb Matthews of London calls high-speed rail a potential “game-changer” for Southwestern Ontario. “It takes longer and longer to get to Toronto now, and this would allow business to grow and stay in London,” said the London North Centre MPP and president of the provincial treasury board.
“Money is the big question. We have to look at the (environmental assessment) to give us more concrete details of costs,” said Matthews, noting smaller regional communities must also benefit.
“The EA is not just money — it’s ‘what is reasonable, what is the ridership, does it make sense?’ ”
While the province hasn’t worked out the exact route for high-speed rail service — would London’s station be downtown, for example, or at the airport, or somewhere else? — observers say it’s important whatever gets planned works with London’s own rapid transit model.
Although those details haven’t been worked out, either, the corridor “spines” of London’s rapid transit system — known as Shift — won’t change, Cassidy said.
Whether the rapid transit system is light rail, fast bus or a hybrid, it has to hook up with the high-speed rail, she said.
Also important are what connections a high-speed system would have for nearby communities, said Conservative MP Karen Vecchio, whose Elgin-Middlesex-London riding takes in such centres including St. Thomas.
“If you land in London, do we have infrastructure to get you from there to St. Thomas or Port Stanley for the day?” she asked. “For me, the cost to the end user is going to be the big thing. It’s still so conceptual that it’s hard to grasp.”
How a high-speed service would compete with or complement Via Rail service through the region, one of the rail passenger system’s busiest in Ontario, hasn’t been worked out, either, Vecchio pointed out.
Coun. Anna Hopkins who represented London as acting mayor in the meetings with Collenette, observed, “It made me realize the importance of Shift, and how we need to prove a seamless connection to high-speed rail.”
HIGH-SPEED RAIL IN SW ONTARIO
Long debated, suddenly hot in an infrastructure-spending climate.
Toronto to Windsor, via London and Kitchener-Waterloo.
No cost yet.
Ontario will spend $130 billion over 10 years on infrastructure, including high-speed rail.
77 minutes between London and Toronto.
Last fall, Ontario named ex-federal transport minister David Collenette as high-speed adviser.
Collenette met last week with corridor’s civic and rural leaders to gather input, field questions.
Said province wants a report about plans for the corridor by October 2016.
High-speed feasibility
From a 2014 study:
Infrastructure would cost about $2.5 billion.
By 2025, would attract about six million passengers a year.
Would take an estimated 20,000 vehicles a day off Highway 401.
Fare revenue would cover most capital investment, with net cost to government of about $500 million.
Toronto-London fare would average $43.
Rapid transit in London
Canada’s largest city without a rapid transit system or solid plans to build one.
A proposed system, called Shift, still not nailed down.
City politicians have yet to pick between $470-million rapid bus system or $880-million plan combining fast buses and light rail.
City has allocated $125 million to project; more needed from senior governments.
Hybrid option would see 13 km of light rail running north and east from downtown, 10.6 km of rapid bus service running south and west from downtown.
Stops would be centred on so-called transit villages or hubs, fed by other transit routes
If approved, construction could start in 2017 and be finished by 2027.
Would be largest infrastructure project in city’s history.
High-speed meets rapid transit
Both still in planning, but city and province would have to work together for them to mesh well
What good is a high-speed train that drops you off at London airport, for example, if you can’t get quickly from there to the city core?
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