Building on Decades of High-Speed Rail Experience

By Maria Luisa Dominguez, Chief Project Management Officer – Alto & Loïc Dorbec – Project Director, Cadence

Around the world, high-speed rail has connected millions of people across communities, strengthened regional economies and transformed the way people move. It has also generated decades of experience in how to plan and deliver major infrastructure projects responsibly and successfully.

At Alto and Cadence, we draw on international experience from some of the world's most advanced rail systems, and the people who built them. We have both played key roles in planning and delivering major high-speed rail projects in Spain and in France. Having seen firsthand the benefits these projects can deliver, we are bringing that experience to Alto to help shape the next chapter of Canada’s passenger rail: high-speed train between Toronto and Québec City.

While every country and every project is different, some lessons are universal: plan carefully, understand local realities, work closely with communities and carefully consider environmental and social impacts from the earliest stages of development.

One important example is preserving access and mobility for the people and communities located along the corridor.

Our purpose is to connect people, not divide them.

Alto will not create a wall between communities. Nor will it become a barrier for wildlife or natural water flows. We will build the crossings and infrastructure needed to maintain the local connections people and ecosystems rely on every day.

International experience demonstrates that this can be done successfully. In France, where the high-speed rail network extends over approximately 2,700 kilometers, more than 4,000 engineering structures help maintain roads, agricultural access and other essential local connections. Spain's Madrid-Barcelona-French border high-speed line provides another example. Along approximately 750 kilometers of railway, more than 900 overpasses, underpasses and viaducts were built.

From the beginning, preserving access and mobility has been a key principle of the Alto project. We will build many crossings and connections to help residents, local traffic and emergency services continue moving safely and efficiently throughout their communities. This includes infrastructure designed to maintain local road access, support agricultural operations, preserve wildlife movement and natural water flows, and maintain access for critical response routes.

Focusing on keeping people and communities connected is one example of how we’re applying international experience to Alto. The same principles guide how we approach engineering, environmental studies, community engagement and project planning more broadly.

Because every community is unique, solutions will be designed with local realities in mind. We believe the best solutions come through dialogue. That is why we are creating opportunities to engage with municipalities, local authorities and community stakeholders, listen carefully and learn from the people who know their communities best.

Across Europe, high-speed rail lines coexist with towns, neighbourhoods and cities, helping connect regions while preserving the local links people rely on every day. They are designed to allow people, wildlife and water to continue moving through the landscape, rather than creating barriers.

The same can be achieved here.

The lessons learned from decades of high-speed rail development are clear: successful projects are built through careful planning, strong local partnerships and a commitment to getting the details right long before construction begins. At Alto, we are applying those lessons to build a project that reflects local realities, delivers lasting benefits and makes responsible use of public funds.