KAWARTHA LAKES-Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock MP Jamie Schmale is questioning the Federal governments commitment to VIA rail after a multi million dollar announcement on Tuesday.
Liberal Peterborough-Kawartha MP Maryam Monsef announced in Peterborough $71.1 million in new funding to advance VIA Rail’s proposal for High Frequency Rail in the Quebec City-Toronto Corridor.
Schmale said the announcement doesn’t put the project any further ahead. “While I have been advocating for this project for a number of years, today’s announcement shouldn’t be confused as a done deal. Nothing in today’s announcement demonstrates that this Government is serious about getting shovels in the ground.”
“It is time for the Government to commit to construction. If the Government had begun construction two years ago on the Peterborough to Toronto section, we would be cutting a ribbon – not re-announcing further studies without commitment to construction,” said Schmale.
After years of previous study on the project, the Government announced that $55 million of this funding will support a Joint Project Team, which is mandated to conduct further research on the High Frequency Rail line.
Schmale thinks a dedicated High Frequency Rail line is vital to improving the health of the local economy, connecting commuters to major employment centers, and reducing the environmental impact of motor vehicles.
“The existing Quebec City-Toronto route suffers from numerous bottlenecks because VIA Rail must compete with freight for scheduling. Freight companies are often given priority due their ownership of certain stretches of rail. This isn’t fair to commuters who rely on rail as an option to get to work and support our economy.” said a press release from the MP.
VIA Rail’s proposal will triple the number of trips per day between Montreal and Toronto and meet an emissions target akin to cutting the equivalent of at least 2.3 million cars from the road for a year, by 2050, taking real action to fight climate change according to Schmale.
