Mr. Carney, please stop Alto in its tracks | Letters to the Editor

Alto Photo by SUPPLIED

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Mr. Carney, please stop Alto in its tracks

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One must clearly applaud Prime Minister Mark Carney for his incredible fortitude and patience in leading Canada during these most disruptive economic times. He is working diligently to bring Canadians the best possible results on all fronts. Our prime minister exudes diplomacy without compromising his business acumen.

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Given the foregoing, I find it disconcerting that the legacy project, Alto (estimated cost of $60 billion to $90 billion), hasn’t been frozen or, even better, cancelled outright. Opening our newspaper we see full-page ads promising a glorious new high-speed rail system, which leaves us wondering who is drinking the Kool-Aid.

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One only has to look at the dismal situation with Ottawa’s light rail system to realize an electric rail system in Canada is more than ludicrous — winter weather and electric trains are not compatible.

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Despite all the evidence showing poor ridership levels, safety issues, unreliability, astronomical operating and maintenance costs and mounting deficits of Ottawa’s LRT, no one has put a stop to Alto, which is heading firmly in the same direction.

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Mr. Carney, you did not initiate this project, however it is within your purview to cancel it and save Canadians a burgeoning debt for minuscule return. This is a boondoggle — please end it.

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Kathleen Tomko, Ottawa

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Canada doesn’t need the Alto high-speed headache

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I have ridden several high-speed trains, in Europe and Japan. Japan’s was superb, quiet, fast and smooth, and all you could wish for. Britain, which supposedly has a connection to France and Germany’s HST systems, goes under the English Channel and is hitting all the hurdles that we will. Crossing protected natural terrain, annoying farmers and locals, costing a lot more than planned, and taking longer to complete.

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We have to remember that the simple Ottawa LRT system has been a high-cost failure.

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We have to realize that our finances are limited and controlled, and life is getting more expensive every day. But we should also be aware that the number of people who will use the HST is extremely small. We aren’t a huge population like the U.S. and don’t all live in a small area like the U.K. The U.S. also has a record of failure trying to build HST from Los Angeles to San Francisco, where costs have spiralled.

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I think flight will remain a cheap, quick and easy travel option.

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Canadian citizens will not use, and do not want, this expensive project. Leave our lives alone, and let us enjoy the life we are now struggling to afford.