The process to identify the future route of high speed rail between Quebec City,
Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto begins this month with a series of field studies along a pre-established corridor that is up to 10 kilometres wide and includes parts of Avalon and Blackburn Hamlet.

The field studies will be conducted over the next six months by ALTO Rail, the federal agency formed to build and operate the proposed high speed rail service.

The field studies will include wildlife and flora observations, soil sampling, sound-level measurements, and the analysis of waterways and wetlands.

The studies will help establish baseline environmental conditions within the study corridor prior to the project, anticipate potential impacts, and identify measures to avoid, minimize or compensate for adverse effects, while maximizing benefits for communities.

But before the field studies can be undertaken, ALTO has to reach out to the landowners along the corridor to seek a “permission to enter” or PTE agreement to study the land.

Receiving a PTE request does not neces-sarily mean that a property will need to be acquired for the project or that the future train will run near it, as the alignment has not yet been determined.

The results of the field studies will be used to help determine a 60-metre right-of-way along which the high speed rail line will be built.

In determining the right-of-way, a number of factors have to be taken into consideration. For instance, in order to accommodate the high speed the trains will travel at will require long stretches of straight sections and drawn out curves.

The preliminary studies must also deter-mine where the new stations will be built in each of the destinations along the route.

When it nears Ottawa, it will also have to avoid environmentally protected lands like the Mer Bleue Bog and the Greenbelt.

While ALTO isn’t tipping its cap on a possible route before the field studies are conducted, it’s entirely possible that parts of the current VIA Rail line could be included in any future high speed route.

When it’s completed the high speed rail service will connect Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto with stops in Trois-Rivières, Laval and Peterborough.

The trains will travel at speeds up to 300 km/h and will cover the distance from Montréal to Ottawa in just over an hour.

Plans call for the Montréal to Ottawa section of the route to be built first, followed by the Ottawa to Peterborough section and the Peterborough to Toronto section.

The project is supported by a $60B-$90B budget. Construction is set to start in 2029–2030, with the first phase connecting Ottawa and Montreal.