OTTAWA, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Wednesday that Canada is developing a high-speed rail network in the Toronto-Quebec City corridor, the most populous region in the country.

This rail network will span approximately 1,000 km and reach speeds of up to 300 km/hour, with stops in Toronto, Peterborough, Ottawa, Montréal, Laval, Trois-Rivières, and Quebec City, Trudeau said in a press release.

According to the release, once operational, current travel times will be slashed in half, getting the passengers from Montréal to Toronto in three hours. The official name of this high-speed rail service will be Alto.

Cadence has been selected to not only co-design and build, but also to finance, operate, and maintain this project, the release said.

Cadence is a consortium of companies with expertise and know-how in the design, development, and operation of large-scale transportation infrastructure, including CDPQ Infra, AtkinsRéalis, Keolis, SYSTRA, SNCF Voyageurs, and Air Canada.

In November 2022, the Government of Canada created a Crown corporation, VIA HFR (now Alto), to provide oversight of this project. Alto and Cadence will sign a contract setting out the terms of the next phase of the project, said the release.

The Toronto-Quebec City corridor is home to 18 million people, 40 percent of Canadian GDP, over 700,000 students, and more than 30 colleges and universities. Enditem

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