More than 450 people packed the Crosspoint Baptist Church on Navan Road last Tuesday, April 21 to hear from a series of speakers on why the proposed ALTO high speed train from Montréal to Ottawa and Ottawa to Toronto is a bad idea.

The project is a federal government initiative that is being supported by the provincial govern-ments of both Ontario and Quebec. When it’s eventually completed it would link Quebec City to Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto using high speed trains that will travel up to 300 km/h.

The Montréal to Ottawa section would be built in the first phase of the project starting in 2029. It is projected to be operational sometime between 2035 and 2038.

The projected cost estimates range between $60 billion and $90 billion by the time it’s completed.

Before construction can begin, however, the consortium behind ALTO must first undertake an environmental impact assessment and iden-tify a 60-metre wide corridor through which the train will travel. One scenario has it following the old CP Rail line which runs immediately south of Navan and is now being utilized as a recreational trail.

A good number of the people at the infor-mation meeting were farmers from Eastern Ontario who have the most to lose if a high speed rail line is built through their backyards, literally. Among them was John McWilliams who owns a farm on Trim Road that abuts to the proposed corridor and his cousin Wyatt who also owns a farm near Navan.