With a perfect safety record, projected job creation of 1,750 jobs per year over 25 years, and estimated emissions savings of over 2,700 tonnes of CO2 per year in the U.S., it’s hard to see why a country as vast as Canada hasn’t started building high-speed rail.

High-speed rail (HSR) reaches speeds of over 200 kilometres per hour and has been operating in France for almost 30 years and in Japan for 46.

Our two prime corridors for true HSR are Calgary-Edmonton and Windsor-Quebec City, where travel times would be cut in half.

Countries around the world are embracing HSR. HSBC forecasts that the biggest beneficiary of stimulus money in 2010 will be the rail sector, which should receive $64 billion USD. China is also getting on board by building 7,000 kilometres of dedicated HSR routes.

Even our neighbours to the south realize its importance. In January, U.S. President Barack Obama announced $8 billion in grants for the country’s first national, high-speed intercity rail service—which is projected to create or save tens of thousands of jobs. And switching from an auto-dependent society to a multi-modal system that includes a greater role for passenger and high-speed trains is good for the environment. But when will Canada decide to get on track?

Two studies have been completed on the viability of a Calgary-Edmonton route in the last six years, and a private company, Alberta Rail Inc., is interested in operating the line. In 1985, passenger service came to an end after 94 years, but recent public opinion polls in the province strongly support the development of HSR.

For the Windsor-Quebec City route, there have been about 12 studies done in the last three decades. All these studies supported the implementation of HSR in this corridor. Currently, the City of Quebec and the Chamber of Commerce have supported a study by the Société Nationale des Chemins de fer français (SNCF)—French National Railways—on the possibilities of HSR between Ontario and Quebec.

This is being done at the same time that the 1995 joint Federal/Ontario/Quebec government High Speed Rail Project study is being updated. Both these studies are supposed to be completed by now.

While there have been many studies, no action has been taken to date.

Kinder to the earth