Q-1191 , 45th Parliament, 1st session May 26, 2025, to present

With regard to Alto (VIA HFR - VIA TGF Inc.) and passenger rail in Canada: (a) on what basis, studies, and facts was the change made from pursuing high-frequency rail to pursuing high-speed rail; (b) why has the government not pursued legislated passenger rail priority, in general or for VIA Rail specifically, on privately-owned rail infrastructure in Canada along established passenger rail routes; (c) what funding has been provided, broken down by year since 1990, for infrastructure improvements along established VIA Rail passenger rail routes; (d) by what instrument or instruments is the public release of records relating to the 2023 Request for Qualifications restrained; (e) by what instrument or instruments is the public release of intellectual property that is owned by the Government of Canada relating to the 2023 Request for Qualifications restrained; (f) with respect to the 2023 Request for Qualifications, what are the details of the independent corridor alignments, Class 5 cost estimates, ridership forecasts and revenue models, operating cost models, financial structures, financial models, construction schedules, and risk and opportunity registers submitted by each of the three shortlisted consortia; (g) what are the upper and lower capital cost estimates submitted by each of the three shortlisted consortia included in the 2023 Request for Qualifications; (h) what were the conclusions of the analyses conducted before 2023 on the financial viability of high-speed rail proposals for Canada; (i) what are the current estimates of the capital cost, net present value, benefit-cost ratio, and 30-year government subsidy requirement for Alto; (j) what are the most recent estimates of the capital cost, net present value, benefit-cost ratio, and 30-year government subsidy requirement for the high-frequency rail predecessor to Alto; (k) what is the government’s estimate of the risk levels of the Alto project exceeding $90 billion in capital costs and by what amounts; (l) on what basis does the government believe Alto’s annual ridership projections are credible; (m) what are the methodology, sensitivity ranges, and baseline assumptions used for Alto’s annual ridership projections; (n) has Alto or the government commissioned a comparative freezing rain, snow, or ice risk assessment for the proposed Alro routes and, if so, what are the details and conclusions; (o) what is Alto's planned service reliability target under freezing rain conditions; (p) has Alto commissioned a full comparative winter weather cost analysis; (q) what public benchmarking mechanism will exist to detect cost escalation in the co-development phase before it becomes irreversible; and (r) what are the time and cost savings projected for the expedited Expropriation process in Bill C-15 versus standard Expropriation Act procedures?