A Rideau Lakes group opposed to the Alto high-speed rail project is reaffirming its position following an announcement about a potential stop in Kingston.
The Rideau Lakes Against Alto High-Speed Rail Group said it does not support high-speed rail (HSR) along any corridor being proposed through Ontario, Quebec or any other part of Canada.
The statement comes in response to an announcement made by Steven MacKinnon on June 22 about a potential Kingston stop.
According to the release, the originally proposed southern corridor, as well as any new corridor involving Kingston, has the potential to cut directly through Rideau Lakes and surrounding communities.
It said HSR along any corridor would cut through farmland, nature and communities, even if some of it were to run along Highway 401.
“Our position is clear — No Alto, anywhere!” the release states.
Reasons cited for opposing the Alto HSR project include what the organization describes as the exorbitant expense of HSR and long-term generational costs, disruption of agricultural operations, bisecting communities, increasing delays for emergency services and impacts on nature and heritage, including the UNESCO-designated Frontenac Arch Biosphere and the Rideau Canal.
The release argues the government is asking for an unreasonable amount of sacrifice from citizens, farms, businesses and communities across the corridor for the benefit of very few.
It also points to stress, poverty, homelessness and food insecurity among Canadians, arguing that high-speed rail would not address those issues and would make them worse by expropriating thousands of homes and farms across two provinces.
The Alto HSR project is being touted as a nation-building project, according to the release, but the organization argues it would divide large portions of the country because rural roads would be dead-ended by a 1,000-kilometre-long fenced-off corridor with no level road crossings through established communities.
As an alternative, the organization is calling for a more reliable regional passenger rail service on dedicated tracks for VIA Rail.
It says this would eliminate the need for a fenced-off track without level road crossings and would therefore avoid dead-ended roads and the division of communities.
Dedicated high-frequency rail (HFR) infrastructure should instead be located alongside existing major railway tracks, according to the release, rather than constructing a new HSR corridor through established communities and farmland. It says HFR could allow more continuous higher speeds alongside existing tracks.
The Rideau Lakes Against Alto HSR Group is recommending that HSR be avoided along any corridor through Ontario, Quebec and Canada and that the regional train system be improved by building HFR rather than HSR.
It is also calling for transparency around new rail systems proposed by Alto or any other group and for questions raised by council members, business owners and community groups to be addressed before planning proceeds on any railway corridor.
SOURCE: Rideau Lakes Against Alto High-Speed Rail.
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