High-speed rail in Canada

Canada is the only G7 country that does not have high-speed rail. In the press and popular discussion, there have been two routes frequently proposed as suitable for a high-speed rail corridor:

A possible international high-speed rail link between Montreal and Boston or New York City is often discussed by regional leaders, though little progress has been made. On another international line between Vancouver and Seattle, work is in progress to improve the existing Amtrak Cascades service, though it will not reach speeds normally associated with high-speed rail.

On April 10, 2008, a lobby group, High Speed Rail Canada, was formed to promote and educate Canadians on the benefits of high-speed rail in Canada.

CN Rail placed some early hopes with the UAC TurboTrain, in its Toronto–Montreal route during the 1960s. The TurboTrain was a true HST with the train sets achieving speeds as high as 201 km/h (125 mph) in regular service. CN's, and later Via Rail's, TurboTrain service were marred with lengthy interruptions to address design problems and having to cope with poor track quality (accounted for by dual passenger-freight use); as such, the trains were operated at 161 km/h (100 mph). The TurboTrain featured the latest technology advances such as passive coach tilting, Talgo attachment for rigid coach articulation and gas turbine power.

Beginning in the 1970s, a consortium of several companies started to study Bombardier Transportation's LRC, which was a more conventional approach to high-speed rail, in having separate cars and locomotives, rather than being an articulated train. Pulled by heavy conventional-technology diesel-electric locomotives designed for 201 km/h (125 mph) normal operating speed, inspired by the British InterCity 125, it entered full-scale service in 1981 for Via Rail, linking cities in the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor, but at speeds never exceeding the 170 km/h (110 mph) limit mandated by line signalling. It was the world's first active tilting train in commercial service.

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