Opinion: Alberta can learn from Cascadia and VIA's passenger rail projects

Artistic rendering of the Siemens high-speed rail train for Brightline West between Las Vegas and Los Angeles. (Brightline)

Written for Daily Hive Urbanized by David Hoff, who was a Western Canadian representative on the VIA Rail Board of Directors for a decade. He is the Canadian co-chair of the Cascadia Innovation Corridor Initiative’s Infrastructure Committee, a chair of the BC Business Coalition for Cascadia high-speed rail, and works for Ledcor.

As the Government of Alberta launches its C$9 million passenger rail study, they can learn much from Cascadia’s high-speed rail (HSR) proposal linking Vancouver, Seattle, and Portland, and VIA Rail’s passenger rail project upgrading Toronto, Ontario, and Montreal’s existing linkages.

Alberta may appear to be “late to this party,” but it is actually ahead in a very significant way.

Federal Crown corporation VIA Rail has been working on the possibility of HSR between Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal for decades.

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Canada’s federal government has contributed almost C$400 million to help the VIA Rail project move forward. Design and engineering proponents have been identified, and a shortlist of three international consortia will be providing concept proposals this summer.

VIA Rail proposes to create a new passenger rail service that is safe, convenient, and economical, which can travel between downtown Toronto and downtown Montreal in under three hours, with some trains travelling through Ottawa.

VIA Rail’s primary challenge is not design and engineering or the availability of engines and rolling stock. Nor is it financing, as many P3 models “pencil” for both the federal and Quebec governments (Ontario is not yet fully engaged), Canadian pension funds, and international investors.

VIA Rail’s key challenge is to identify and create a suitable right of way between the urban centres. And although most people would like to have high-speed rail in Ontario and Quebec, not surprisingly, most citizens are not excited about having it in their own backyard.

One practical decision that VIA Rail made a few years ago was to pursue high-frequency rail first and then potentially upgrade it to high-speed rail later on.

Preliminary route concept for high-frequency rail between Toronto and Quebec City. (VIA Rail)

Siemens Venture train for VIA Rail. (VIA Rail)

HSR is considerably more expensive than HFR. And most HSR systems in Europe and Asia grew organically from the operation of successful HFR systems. VIA Rail believes Canada needs to “learn to walk before it can run.”

On the West Coast, the Cascadia Innovation Corridor (CIC) initiative was launched by the Business Council of BC and Challenge Seattle about eight years ago, and it helped inject life into a proposed HSR rail project between Vancouver, British Columbia and Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon.

The governments of Washington State and British Columbia have been steadily advancing the project and are now coordinating efforts to consider the characteristics of their type of service. The Washington State legislature has contributed most of the project development funding so far, recently putting US$25 million on the table, as well as a US$150 million credit facility to match potential US federal infrastructure funds.

In December 2023, the project was officially named a “Corridor of Interest” by the US Federal Railway Administration. This allows the project to qualify for funding from the billions of dollars earmarked for intercity passenger rail projects within the Biden Inflation Reduction (Infrastructure) Act.

Vancouver Seattle Portland high speed rail

Cascadia high-speed rail business case, July 2019. (Washington State Department of Transportation)

Each of these projects is unique, but they do offer some lessons for Alberta to consider.

First of all, this is the beginning of a long journey. Governments in Ottawa, Ontario, Quebec, BC, Washington State, and Oregon are developing these projects slowly and not jumping on the latest wiz-bang technologies, such as hyperloop or maglev.

Secondly, these governments are not abandoning conventional transportation systems like public transit, highways, or airports as they consider their passenger rail options.

HFR and HSR are best pursued as an evolution, not a revolution. And new passenger rail projects are successful when they integrate within broader economic, social, and environmental development plans.

Thirdly, both of these projects are directly involving a large number of stakeholders. Both projects anticipate launching even wider consultations with civil society, from businesses to environmental groups and First Nations to unions.

brightline west high speed rail siemens train

Artistic rendering of the Siemens high-speed rail train for Brightline West between Las Vegas and Los Angeles. (Brightline)

Finally, the proponents have not shied away from the fact that these will be large and expensive projects. The estimated capital expenditure budgets can make them seem beyond reach. But once you examine the alternatives, the projects are worth consideration.

For example, the Washington State Department of Transportation has undertaken a number of studies on their I-5 and I-90 Interstate corridors, and the alternatives, such as state-wide highway expansions, are even more eye-popping in terms of cost.

The reality is that Edmonton and Calgary and other Alberta cities will continue to grow. Traffic between the two main and secondary urban centres will increase. Vehicle congestion will continue to rise.

Building wider highways helps, especially for trucks. But if Alberta’s provincial government could remove half of the cars from the Queen Elizabeth Expressway, it would save a lot of money on highway projects in the future.

The final lesson is that the key defining factor for all of these mega projects is the right of way, which is clearly within the government’s responsibility.

This is where Alberta has a lead. Decades ago, the provincial government began reserving and designating land for a utility corridor between Edmonton and Calgary. Just like they did for the province’s two impressive ring-road systems.

Locating a right of way is the most difficult first step in the development of a new passenger system. Successive Alberta governments have done their part in keeping all options open for future provincial growth and development.

Undertaking an Alberta-wide study of passenger rail options is the next logical step in the development of an even more advanced provincial transportation system that is safe, efficient, economical, and environmentally responsible.

Map for Alberta’s passenger rail study, 2024. (Government of Alberta)

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