All Posts by Transport Action

Alto announces Montreal-Ottawa segment to be first

By Transport Action | Intercity Rail and Bus , National News

Speaking in Gatineau on December 12, 2025, federal Minister of Transport Steve MacKinnon and Alto President and CEO Martin Imbleau announced that the first segment of the Alto High-Speed Rail network to be constructed would run between Ottawa and Montreal. It was anticipated that the project would be built in stages, with construction overlapping, and Ottawa-Montreal […]

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VIA Rail travel credits now available online, but Escape fares go online-only

By Transport Action | Intercity Rail and Bus

Over the past few months, VIA Rail has had to pay out an astonishing $31 million in travel credits to delayed passengers, with many of the delays stemming from the dispute with CN over grade crossing activation. Until recently, passengers had to phone the call centre to apply the credit to a new reservation, or […]

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VIA Rail launches Montreal–Toronto express trains but cuts service to lakeshore cities

By Transport Action | Intercity Rail and Bus

Update: On September 29, VIA rail announced that the pilot project had been suspended due to “operational constraints” with CN, the host railway, with all trains continuing to make their normal scheduled stops. VIA Rail is launching non-stop Montreal–Toronto trains starting on September 29, 2025 as a three-month pilot project, announced on September 19. All […]

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CN collision with Exo train attributed to lack of Enhanced Train Control

By Transport Action | Intercity Rail and Bus

Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) investigation report (R23D0108), released on September 16, 2025, highlighted the lack of fail-safe engineering controls ensure to trains follow signal indications as a key factor in the collision between a Canadian National locomotive and an Exo commuter train at the St-Léonard-Montréal-Nord station on November 21, 2023. The investigation found that the […]

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Government puts Alto HSR on the fast track

By Transport Action | Intercity Rail and Bus

The federal government appears to finally be moving the Alto High Speed Rail project on to the fast track, recognising its importance as a nation building project, in a victory for our advocacy critiquing the multiple delays and extensions to the timeline imposed since High Frequency Rail was first proposed more than ten years ago. […]

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