Save South Frontenac responds to Poilievre's comments on high-speed rail

Conservative leader says he would scrap the proposed $90 billion project.

A local group opposed to the proposed high-speed rail project along Eastern Ontario is pleased with the recent comments made by the leader of the official opposition.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre was in Peterborough last Tuesday to announce that his party would cancel the $90 billion project if they form the next government.

Co-committee lead of Save South Frontenac Katie Koopman says she is glad the issue has now reached the national stage.

Poilievre pledges the money that's been earmarked for the rail line would instead be used to upgrade current rail infrastructure.

Koopman says when you break it down, over three-quarters of Canadians will be paying for this rail project and will not be benefitting from it.

While the issue surrounding the project has now received national attention, Koopman says they don't want to make this a political issue.

She says that would distract people from the real concerns that residents living near the proposed line are having.

Alto's CEO Martin Imbleau told the Whig-Standard prior to Poilievre's announcement that he understands the resident's concerns but believes there are ways to get around it. He said there will be underpasses and overpasses that would allow people to access both sides of the rail line.

Imbleau says they will do what is being done in places like Germany, France, and the UK where high-speed rail is in place.

But Koopman says you can't compare the Canadian landscape with the one in Europe.

The line would consist of tracks stretching more than a thousand kilometres long between Toronto and Quebec City. Alto is pledging that the trains would operate at speeds of 300 km/h.

Story by Ken Hashizume with files from Jordan Mercier