Canada’s high-speed rail project is also a major freight story
New report for Alto prepared by CPCS in association with HDR finds that a dedicated passenger rail line between Toronto and Montréal could significantly free up capacity on existing tracks to move freight.
The report: High-Speed Rail and Freight Capacity: Potential Freight Benefits of Alto
Key points
- Approximately $80 billion in goods move through the Toronto–Montréal corridor every year.
- The corridor may need to accommodate up to 55% more freight traffic over the next 30 years.
- There’s an inherent trade-off in mixed-use rail corridors: when passenger and freight trains share the same infrastructure, overall capacity and operational performance is lower.
Passenger and freight trains share the same tracks
The Québec City–Toronto corridor, particularly the Toronto–Montréal segment, is a busy intercity passenger rail route and a critical trade artery.
It carries potash, wheat, energy commodities, manufactured goods, consumer products, and intermodal freight from across the country to domestic and international markets. Yet across much of the route, passenger and freight trains share the same tracks.
Passenger services depend on reliable schedules and on-time performance, while freight operators need flexibility to move longer, heavier trains efficiently. As rail traffic grows, those competing priorities become harder to accommodate.
The report suggests that a dedicated high-speed passenger rail line could unlock significant “capacity dividend” by freeing existing tracks for more freight movement, helping support trade, supply chains, and future economic growth, without hindering the reliability of passenger trains.
“The conversation around high-speed rail has focused on passengers. Our analysis suggests we should also be asking what additional freight capacity it could unlock across one of Canada’s most important economic corridors,” says Adrian Lightstone, Senior Vice President, CPCS.
Creating room for growth
The report’s central finding is simple: track capacity is finite. When passenger and freight trains operate on the same tracks, capacity constraints can limit both operational performance and future growth.
Illustration – mixed operation impacts capacity and performance
Using freight growth forecasts and a contingency buffer for future demand, CPCS estimates it would be prudent to plan for freight volumes up to 55% higher within the next three decades.
Accommodating that growth while maintaining current passenger operations could require significant investment in existing rail infrastructure.
A dedicated high-speed passenger network offers another approach: move a portion of passenger services onto new infrastructure and free additional capacity for freight on the existing corridor, delaying or avoiding the need for capital investments.
The report identifies potential benefits including improved freight fluidity, stronger supply-chain resilience, and enhanced trade competitiveness.
A larger question for policymakers, the industry
The report does not suggest that high-speed rail alone will fix freight transportation overnight.
It does, however, raise an important question for governments, transportation planners, and industry leaders:
If one of Canada’s busiest transportation corridors faces growing pressure over the coming decades, should high-speed rail be evaluated solely as a passenger project, or also as an investment in Canada’s long-term trade and transportation capacity?
CPCS’s analysis suggests that unlocking capacity in one of Canada’s busiest rail corridors could create benefits for supply chains, businesses, and regional economies for decades to come.
About the report
“High-Speed Rail and Freight Capacity: Potential Freight Benefits of Alto”, commissioned by Alto, examines the freight implications of high-speed rail in the Toronto–Montréal corridor. The study estimates the value of goods moving through the corridor today, and provides a high level analysis of freight demand over the next 30 years and assesses how a dedicated passenger rail line could free capacity for freight. The report provides an overview of how high-speed rail could strengthen freight fluidity, supply-chain resilience, and trade competitiveness.
Download full report: High-Speed Rail and Freight Capacity: Potential Freight Benefits of Alto
About CPCS
CPCS is an independent, employee-owned management consulting firm specializing in transportation, energy, and infrastructure. Founded in Canada in 1996, CPCS brings over 30 years of international experience advising public and private sector clients across the full lifecycle of infrastructure from strategy and policy to delivery and operations.
Questions? communications@cpcs.ca
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