The Legault government and the Mayor of Quebec have welcomed the opening of Ottawa to add high speed to certain sections of a high-frequency train between Quebec and Toronto, but recall that they still prefer a corridor dedicated to high speed.
• Also read: Ottawa opens the door to the TGV between Quebec and Toronto
On Friday morning, while passing through Montreal, Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said Ottawa now wants certain sections of its high-frequency rail (TGF) project between Quebec and Toronto to be high-speed trains instead. TGV).
preference
Quebec Minister of Transport Geneviève Guilbault was quick to respond. “We what we prefer is a TGV. A great project that could be funded by the federal government. We will wait for Ottawa to come up with a more detailed project before commenting further,” the deputy prime minister’s office said.
“We are pleased that Ottawa has honored our preference,” we told our parliamentary office.
“We reiterate that the TGV would have several advantages for the Capitale-Nationale,” commented his colleague and Minister responsible for the region, Jonatan Julien.
“This mode of transport would bring the cities closer together,” argued the MP for Charlesbourg. We must have an opening as long as this project is heavily funded by the federal government.”
His statement is reminiscent of statements made by François Legault on the sidelines of the February 2 announcement of a hydrogen train on the Quebec-Charlevoix corridor with Alstom.
“I think a TGV from Quebec to Windsor via Trois-Rivières and Montreal can be a great project. Provided it is heavily funded by the federal government,” the Prime Minister said.
Progressive
A few minutes earlier, the Mayor of Quebec, Bruno Marchand, had also commented on this on Twitter.
“A big step forward! We’ve been talking about this with government ministers and Justin Trudeau for months. A better corridor between Quebec and Toronto opens the door to so many benefits. Our city has everything to gain with a TGV. We want to be part of the solution,” he wrote.
speed
His cabinet recalled that the mayor had always favored a TGV. Until January he had made little secret of his fondness. Speaking on the sidelines of a press conference with provincial ministers, he said: “My position is a TGV, obviously for reasons of ability to transport people of a much shorter duration and encouraging a modal shift of people traveling on a corridor between Quebec and Kingston”.
According to Mr. Marchand, several people in the federal government are interested in a TGV.
–With the collaboration of Marc-André Gagnon