ALTO price tag climbing – PBO Report

Canada’s proposed high-speed rail line between Toronto and Quebec City, through the Quinte region, could carry a bigger price tag than previously expected.

A new report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer estimates construction for the baseline route will cost between $75 and $113 billion.

Dan Albas is the Shadow Minister for Transportation for the Opposition Conservatives and says the price tag is $23-billion higher than government projections.

“There’s a lot of other risks that the Parliamentary Budget Office said today that escalation of price could go up. This current report also doesn’t take into the fact that now the Government of Canada has included Kingston in the Alto project.”

He says the feds rejected the airport expansion in Toronto and local residents need to push them to do the same here.

“The Carney government backed away from the expansion of Billy Bishop, I disagree with that, but they said that they had to listen to the residents affected. So, if there are people that feel that Alto is not the right plan for Ontario, for Quebec, for Canada, then they should voice that immediately to their Members of Parliament.”

The report notes that initial construction starting in 2029 would provide an economic boost, generating up to two billion dollars annually in real GDP and thousands of jobs.

Quinte News has contacted local MP’s Chris Malette (Bay of Quinte) and Shelby Kramp-Neuman (Hastings Lennox and Addington-Tyendinaga) for comment.

You can fund the PBO’s report by CLICKING HERE