CEO of high-frequency rail project says hurdles abound and express trains may be solution

MONTREAL - From his offices on the 34th floor of 1 Place Ville Marie, Martin Imbleau has a nearly panoramic view of Montreal. Clearly in view are Central Station and Victoria Bridge, which are both essential to passenger and freight traffic through the city. Less evident is the route to be traced by Via Rail's planned high-frequency rail (HFR) line from Toronto to Quebec City, a project headed by Imbleau to build a new set of dedicated tracks slated for completion in the mid-2030s. Simply entering and exiting big cities quickly will be one of the thorniest challenges, Imbleau said. “If you go to the Gare Centrale or Union Station or even the Gare du Palais in Quebec (City), you realize that on the last segment to reach those train stations the trains go fairly slowly. So it really affects your journey time,” Imbleau, CEO of Via HFR Inc. - an arm's-length subsidiary of the passenger rail Crown corporation - said in an interview. “One of the constraints is to get in and get out of the c