Let’s Stop Alto!

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Divided communities and loss of local road connections:

High-speed rail requires a fully dedicated corridor with no level crossings. At this stage, it remains unclear where the rail line would pass through local communities. A very rough predictive map is available, but there is no guarantee that it would be followed (indeed, two separate options are proposed, for the part of the map running through Frontenac and Lanark Counties). The map can be seen HERE.

This is deeply concerning, because high-speed rail is incompatible with level crossings. There are therefore two ways of constructing a high-speed rail line:

1. Create a bridge or underpass at where the rail line encounters an existing road; or

2. Turn the road into two unconnected dead ends, so that people on either side must now drive to the nearest overpass in order to travel past where the rail line has been placed.

As a practical matter, installing literally hundreds of bridges or underpasses at all of the places, between Quebec City and Toronto, where the new rail line crosses local roads would cost billions of dollars. Since the project is already projected to cost $60 – $90 billion, it is likely that one cost-saving measure would be to have as few bridges / underpasses as possible.

To give an idea just how expensive the bridges and underpasses would be, I did an online search for the cost of recent overpasses, installed in different parts of Canada, over rail lines. In urban areas, where the roads can be four lanes wide and there may be a need for other expensive features, recent costs have been as much as $190 million [Pitt Meadows, BC], $180 million [Edmonton] and $200 million [Holdem Ave. in Burnaby, BC]. In rural areas, the costs are lower, but still significant, and would likely be above $20 million per road.

Therefore, it is far more likely that most such intersections will be dealt with by creating dead ends, and that only major roads will receive an overpass or underpass.

In towns that are bisected by the rail line, entire neighbourhoods could be geographically divided, significantly disrupting daily life. A short drive across a local road to visit neighbours or commute to work could instead require lengthy detours, simply due to severed secondary road access. The situation would likely be worse in rural and agricultural areas, as the drive between overpasses would likely be significantly greater.

Among the considerations worth taking into account are lost access to lake and recreational properties when only a single existing road crosses the rail line, and the fact that emergency services such as fire, police and paramedics would become significantly worse for numerous residential locations.

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Environmental concerns:

It should be noted that a project of this magnitude would cause significant disruption to local environments and habitats within the community.

Construction at this scale would inevitably result in the destruction or fragmentation of existing ecosystems and agricultural lands.

Furthermore, high-speed trains operating at velocities of up to 300 km/h, as proposed for Alto’s high-speed rail system, would generate substantial noise and ground vibrations. These impacts would displace wildlife and permanently compromise the viability of nearby natural habitats, as well as agricultural operations in the surrounding area.

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The project would result in significant expropriations:

The best models for the kind of expropriations of private property, in the name of federal megaprojects, are the Pickering Airport project, near Toronto, and the Mirabel Airport project, near Montreal. The Pickering project resulted in the expropriation, in 1972, of 18,600 acres of land (mostly farmland). The Mirabel project resulted in the expropriation of 96,000 acres of land. Many family farms were destroyed, and many lives were ruined.

Ultimately, both projects were abandoned, after the airports turned out to be more expensive than anticipated, and to have much less demand than anticipated—both of which are problems that are likely to be replicated in the case of the Alto project.

But because it is relatively inexpensive (and because no construction can occur until expropriation is completed), expropriation always occurs first—even in the case of projects that are ultimately abandoned, as these ones were.

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Bill C-15 or the Budget Implementation Act:

Bill C-15 proposes to make it easier for the government to expropriate land for the Alto rail project. It also includes speeding up approvals under the Impact Assessment Act, as well as easing the process by which the government can expropriate land for the railway.

I strongly object to legislative measures that erode landowner protections or authorize below-market valuations in eminent domain and expropriation proceedings.

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The Alto project would result in the loss of existing rail service:

The proposed high-speed rail would not stop in rural or small-town areas. There would be no stops in either Lanark or Frontenac County. Residents in the southern portion of the riding would need to travel as much as two and a half hours just to access a station stop in Ottawa or Peterborough, and no part of the riding would be less than an hour from the nearest high-speed rail station.

It is highly likely that the high-speed rail service would result in the end of the existing Via Rail service that passes through Kingston, Smiths Falls, and other centres along the existing Via rail line. The promoters of the Alto project may suggest otherwise, but as a practical matter, all commuters who are seeking to go from Montreal or Ottawa to Toronto will choose the faster Alto train, and will thereby strip away at least three quarters of Via’s passenger traffic.

This will render Via Rail financially untenable (in 2023—the most recent year for which I was able to find financial figures–Via Rail had revenues of $430.7 million and expenditures of $812.5 million. The loss of the greater share of the company’s revenues would inevitably lead to the cessation of service.

In-person consultations (no registration required):

Alto is currently conducting public consultations on the proposed high-speed rail project. I strongly encourage you to participate by attending an in-person or virtual session, or by submitting your comments through their online consultation form. Don’t be shy about expressing your concerns!

Date: Wed Feb 18, 2026
Time: 11am-3pm & 5-9pm
Location: Storrington Lions Hall

Date: Wed Mar 4, 2026
Time: 11am-3pm & 5-9pm
Location: Perth Lions Club

Virtual English Sessions:

Fri Feb 20 at 12:00pm
Mon Feb 23 at 7:00pm
Tues Mar 3 at 7:00pm

Virtual French Sessions:

Mon Feb 16 at 7:00pm
Tues Mar 17 at 7:00pm

The online consultation form can be seen HERE

More details on the project can be seen HERE

I remain opposed to the expansion of the Alto High-Speed Rail project and will continue to advocate for road access and the protection of our communities from unnecessary disruption.

Scott Reid MP

Lanark-Frontenac