Alto High-Speed Rail (Toronto–Québec City)

Alignment

Alto is planning a high-speed rail line of about 1,000 km between Toronto and Québec City, on dedicated tracks with top speeds of up to 300 km/h. The federal government says it would cut current travel times roughly in half, bringing Montréal–Toronto to about three hours. Seven stations are planned: Toronto (at or near Union Station), Peterborough, Ottawa, Laval, Montréal (at or near Central Station), Trois-Rivières, and Québec City. No route has been chosen yet. Alto consulted on a broad study corridor in early 2026 and is now narrowing it segment by segment, starting with Ottawa–Montréal. The line on this map is only an indicative trace through the planned station cities, not a proposed alignment.

Between Ottawa and Montréal, the study corridor crosses the Ottawa River on a new bridge and reaches Laval from the north over the Rivière des Mille Îles. From there, a north–south tunnel of more than 10 km would run under the Rivière des Prairies and Mount Royal to downtown Montréal. Trains would reach downtown Toronto from the north or east, in a tunnel or on an elevated structure. Between Peterborough and Ottawa, Alto is comparing a direct route through remote, rocky terrain with a southern route closer to Lake Ontario. In 2026 the federal government also asked Alto to assess a stop at Kingston.

Alto is a federal Crown corporation, created in November 2022 as VIA HFR–VIA TGF Inc. Its private development partner is the Cadence consortium of CDPQ Infra, AtkinsRéalis, SYSTRA Canada, Keolis Canada, Air Canada, and SNCF Voyageurs. The first segment to be built is the roughly 200 km Ottawa–Montréal section. Alto has not announced an opening date.

Updates

2026-11 — Alto answers farm opposition

Alto published five commitments to farming communities, including limiting impacts on farmland from the planning stage, favouring negotiated agreements with owners, and paying fair compensation. It rejected the Union des producteurs agricoles’ (UPA) proposal to run passenger trains on existing CN, CPKC, and CFQG freight tracks, saying freight has priority on those lines. Alto said the UPA had stopped talking to it.

2026-09 — Quebec farmers’ union asks Ottawa to suspend the project

The UPA wrote to Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon asking the federal government to suspend the project and commission an independent comparison of high-speed and high-frequency rail. The Canadian Press reported Alto’s cost estimate for the project as C$60–90 billion.

2026-06 — Market engagement begins; Kingston stop to be assessed

Alto and Cadence launched market engagement with industry on early procurement, work packages, and timelines for the Ottawa–Montréal segment. Minister MacKinnon directed Alto to assess a southern route option between Peterborough and Ottawa with a possible Kingston stop connecting to VIA Rail, after consultation feedback raised concerns about property acquisition and farmland.

2026-01 — Public consultation on the study corridor opens

Alto opened a public consultation on its study corridor, which ran from January to April 2026 and drew more than 10,000 participants. Alto said it was considering long tunnels to reach downtown Montréal and Toronto, adding cost to a project estimated at C$60–90 billion. Field studies on the Ottawa–Montréal segment followed in 2026, and a further consultation on a narrower corridor for that segment is planned for late 2026.

2025-12 — Ottawa–Montréal chosen as the first segment

Transport Canada announced that the roughly 200 km Ottawa–Montréal section would be built first, with construction to begin in 2029. Alto and Cadence were to start pre-procurement work in 2026.

2025-09 — Listed for accelerated development

The federal government named Alto among the transformative projects it would work to accelerate.

2025-02 — Cadence selected as development partner

The federal government chose Cadence to co-develop the network and committed C$3.9 billion over six years for the design and development phase, on top of C$371.8 million in Budget 2024. Alto signed the development contract with Cadence in March 2025.