Local officials hopeful high-speed rail in the future for Windsor

A high-speed rail service from Windsor to Toronto has been promised in the past  — most recently by the Kathleen Wynne government — but that was axed when Doug Ford took office.

Now, with sources telling CBC News a new high-speed rail service will be announced shortly for Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City, local officials are hopeful it won't be long before that is extended down here to Windsor.

Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island CEO Gordon Orr believes it would increase tourism here.

"Because what it would do is we'd be able to get people here quicker," said Orr. 

Chris MacLeod, the chair of the Downtown Windsor BIA, also believes it would be good for business.

"I think that sometimes people look at Windsor as being too far away, right? And so I think anything that makes us more connected to other parts of the province is positive for our area," said MacLeod.

Tony Haddad, interim Windsor and Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce president, is optimistic about the news.

"The latest discussion around service between Quebec City and Toronto makes sense for a start. Certainly also allows an opportunity in the future for a future phase to extend further westerly to London and to Windsor ultimately and obviously to then access the U.S. market through Michigan to Chicago," said Haddad.

Extending a link with Chicago has also been bandied about, and Michigan woman Sue Miller would likely use it to get to Toronto.

"It's been awhile, but I think if I could get there faster, I would probably go more often," said Miller, who spoke with CBC while sitting at the Windsor train station.

Why high-speed rail might not be right for Canada — for now | Canada Tonight

27 days ago

Duration 8:33

Matti Siemiatycki, director of the Infrastructure Institute at the University of Toronto, thinks the high-speed rail project between Ontario and Quebec is unlikely to happen because of high costs, the long build time and because Canada has more pressing problems to deal with right now.

Former transport Minister Omar Alghabra said in 2021 that the Toronto-to-Windsor corridor would be the next step in high-frequency service, meaning more trains travelling the route.

"We started with the busiest corridor and I'm here to tell you that the next step is the second-busiest corridor," Alghabra said at the time in London.

"There's a strong appetite for enhanced passenger rail services in Southwestern Ontario."

So far, a high-speed train is not in the cards for Windsor.