Overview
- Alto opened public open houses and virtual sessions running from January through March to gather input that will determine the preferred corridor and station sites.
- New planning material proposes a more than 10‑kilometre tunnel under the Rivière des Prairies and Mount Royal to reach downtown Montreal, while Toronto access could use a tunnel or elevated approach terminating at Union Station or nearby.
- Officials say the first 200‑kilometre segment between Montreal and Ottawa, including a stop in Laval, could enter construction around 2029–2030, with precise alignments expected by the end of 2026.
- The federally led, all‑electric line spans roughly 1,000 kilometres with trains up to 300 km/h and carries a headline cost estimate of $60–$90 billion after a prior $3.9‑billion design and development commitment.
- Between Ottawa and Peterborough, Alto is studying a northern route across the Canadian Shield with complex rock conditions versus a southern option closer to Lake Ontario that is simpler to build but passes through denser communities, as experts flag high urban tunnelling costs seen in Toronto and Montreal.