Environmental assessment ordered for Ontario high-speed rail

The province has ordered an environmental assessment for a high-speed rail line connecting Windsor, London, Kitchener and Toronto.

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The environmental assessment would determinethe most appropriate route, examine technology options for the future railroad and determine what effect the route could have on the environment.

Theres huge upside here, Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca said Friday.Theres huge economic development potential here by using high speed rail and the technology involved to physically link all of Southwestern Ontario to Toronto, in terms of job creation.

While Del Ducawas keen to extol the economic bonanza a Windsor-Torontohigh-speed link would bring, he wasn't so keen on committing to an exact date for when the trains could actually be running.

"In the next four to six years were going to do the work to put us in a position to make the decision about how long it will take to get the trains running,"he said.

"Nothing can be done until the environmental assessment has been completed."

Del Duca'slatest comments suggest a less specific timelinethan the one his predecessor alluded to before the June 12 election.

Glen Murray, who was transportation minister at the time,a London to Toronto high-speedtrain would cost between $2 to 3 billion and would take a decade to complete.

Del Ducadid not say how much the assessment would cost, but he said the project has been budgeted. Consultations for the environmental assessment will begin in early 2015.

A potential high-speed rail link between London, Kitchener and Toronto was among promises made by Premier Kathleen Wynne's government when the Liberals were swept to power in the June 12 election.