MONTREAL — Martin Imbleau, president and CEO of Alto speaks during a luncheon at the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal in Montreal, on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi
The head of the country’s high-speed rail project says the Greater Toronto Area could be home to two stations rather than one as previously planned.
“Toronto will probably require a secondary station,” said Alto chief executive Martin Imbleau, in an interview with The Canadian Press.
The station would likely sit in a nearby suburb, attracting more passengers from the surrounding region and allowing access to the line while construction on the costlier final leg into downtown Toronto is completed, he said.
“Building downtown will probably take longer,” Imbleau noted, given the possibility of tunnelling and major construction in one of Canada’s densest cities.
“The ridership is big in Toronto and the region is so large that a secondary station is probably worthwhile,” he said. “We’re really considering that.”
No final decision has been made.
So far, the federal government has mandated seven stops: Toronto, Peterborough, Ont., Ottawa, Laval, Que., Montreal, Trois-Rivières, Que., and Quebec City.
The rough route options for a high speed rail line between Toronto and Quebec City are shown in this handout image, which does not include an eighth potential station that could sit in the Toronto suburbs. The proposed network would host 72 trains a day running on dedicated electric tracks at speeds breaching 300 km/h, slashing current travel times. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout-Alto (Mandatory Credit)
The proposed network would host 72 trains a day running on dedicated electric tracks at speeds breaching 300 km/h, slashing current travel times — though an extra stop would stretch them slightly beyond the three hours and seven minutes of a Toronto-Montreal trip, for example.
The project has garnered backlash from a grassroots coalition of farmers and small-town residents as well as the federal Conservatives. Critics say the rail corridor would cleave communities, prompt hundreds of land expropriations and offer locals few benefits while costing taxpayers billions of dollars.
On Wednesday night, Alto released details of its compensation plan for landowners with property purchased or expropriated by the Crown corporation down the line.
Those with parcels needed for the rail corridor — it will span 60 metres in width and sit between three-metre walls — will receive compensation based on several factors. Those include the market value of the property, business losses such as lower income or crop yields, and “disturbance costs” such as moving expenses.
“It’s not only just buying the land; it’s all inconveniences and nuisances with the projects for which landowners will be compensated,” Imbleau said.
The aim is for the tracks to trace existing property lines and for Alto to avoid expropriations, though some will be necessary, he said.
“We really want to start with a willing buyer, willing seller. It’s more of a human touch,” the CEO said.
“That does not mean that the expropriation process will not be used to expedite a transaction, even with a willing seller.”
Many local roads will be cut off by the line, Imbleau acknowledged, a disruption that could affect everyone from first responders to commuters and school bus riders. But he said underpasses will be built “at specific distances” and Alto’s access road running parallel to the tracks will be shared with farmers.
Former prime minister Justin Trudeau, centre, flanked by then-transport Minister Anita Anand, left and Alto CEO Martin Imbleau, announces a new high-speed rail network in the Toronto-Quebec City corridor, in Montreal on Wednesday, Feb.19, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi
Alto wrapped up a three-month public consultation last week, with plans to publish a report in June. Field studies and technical design work on the tracks and stations are already underway.
Alto estimates the full project — carried out by Cadence, a consortium of private companies — will cost between $60 billion and $90 billion, though complex rail projects have a reputation for blowing through budget caps.
If it’s completed, the network could boost Canada’s GDP by 1.1 per cent each year — roughly $35 billion annually in 2025 terms — through the productivity gains achieved by shorter travel times and more connected communities, Alto claims.
But the Crown corporation has yet to furnish a thorough cost-benefit analysis. And Alto’s projection of more than $100 billion in revenue and 1.21 billion trips in its first 40 years of operation is a much more optimistic one than in some third-party reports.
A C.D. Howe Institute study from 2025 predicted economic benefits of between $15 billion and $27 billion over 60 years.
One survey from McGill University’s transportation research lab estimated the service would hit 10.48 million passengers annually after 15 years of service in 2050, versus Alto’s projection of 24 million passengers a year by 2055.
“We intend to make our economic case public in the not-too-distant future,” Imbleau said.
No final route has been nailed down. A more detailed corridor proposal is expected this fall.
For now, Alto is weighing two possible corridors for eastern Ontario. One traces a direct line between Ottawa and Peterborough and the other arcs along a more southerly path.
Construction of the first phase of the 1,000-kilometre rail line is set to kick off in 2029 or 2030, linking Montreal and Ottawa in an effective test case for what would be a massive infrastructure project intended to transform rail travel in Canada’s most densely populated region.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 30, 2026.
Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press
