The Case for High Speed Trains

Imagine zipping from Toronto to Montreal in less than an hour and a half in smooth, quite comfort for a ticked price at half of what it would cost to fly there. This is a reality in many countries around the world, such as in France, Japan, the UK, and even the United States. It's an alluring prospect that has met with mixed opinions on the subject. Of course I'm talking about high speed trains such as Japan's legendary bullet trains, France's record setting TGV, and the Amtrak's Baltimore-New York Accela Express. The trains run on electricity from overhead wires or a third rail just like a subway does and are propelled at speeds up to 300km/h. They can also be adapted to most current rail lines. By contrast, modern diesel trains used for VIA rail are no faster than your typical car trip.

The debate is currently raging in Alberta over whether to build a high speed rail link between Calgary and Edmonton. The Calgary Herald editorial board argues against building such a link as it would likely run far over budget and end up costing tax payers hundreds of millions of dollars more than expected. In my opinion, building such a train between those two cities probably isn't practical. However, a link between Toronto and Montreal would be highly feasible and indeed beneficial. The highway between the two cities is frequently jammed and flights are expensive. A low cost alternative would likely attract millions of business travellers and create thousands of new jobs. It only makes sense to expand the transportation corridor between Canada's two largest cities in terms of population and economics. The current rail system is based on archaic technology and we are lagging far behind other countries. Bombardier Transportation is a major manufacturer of high speed trains, including the Accela and TVG. It's almost an embarrassment that we refuse to invest in our own Canadian technology. The big concern though is still tax costs. The government really needs to encourage private industry to take a role in it in order to reduce the taxpayer burden. Government owned rail lines simply don't work as there is no incentive to innovate or attract passengers away from other modes such as the airlines. This is why they become huge money pits. If done properly, it could be made a reality. We just need to get over the hurdle that is our fear to invest in badly needed infrastructure.