Protests have started against Alto, the low-emission, electric-powered high-speed rail project between #Quebec City and #Toronto.
According to Alto, the trains could carry 43M passengers, and bring $35B/yr in economic benefits to #Canada.
Many communities want a station...
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in reply to πππππ πΆππππππ π • • •...but the media is foregrounding farmers, and Conservative politicians, who want to derail the project.
The same has happened in #California, where litigious landowners have stalled high-speed rail, causing costs to skyrocket.
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in reply to πππππ πΆππππππ π • • •If you look back, every high-speed project, from Japan's original bullet train to #France's TGV, faced NIMBY protesters. (Winemakers claimed railway vibrations would wreck their grands crus!)
It's all part of the process of building ambitious infrastructure.
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in reply to πππππ πΆππππππ π • • •The alternative to fast railways is more runways and highwaysβthe most polluting forms of inter-city transport.
I take a look at the history of opposition to railways, going back to England in the 1830s, in this HIGH SPEED newsletter:
highspeed.blog/not-in-my-back-β¦
Not in My Back Forty!
Taras Grescoe (High Speed)