Council demands Kingston stop on proposed high-speed rail line

By Christena Lawrie, CFRC's Broadcast Journalist and Local Journalism Initiative Reporter.

At their meeting on Tuesday night, Council passed a motion advocating for a Kingston stop on the Alto High-Speed Rail (HSR) project.

The proposed southern route of the HSR currently includes 7 stops, and Kingston is not one of them, in spite of having the fourth busiest Via Rail station in the country.

Mayor Bryan Paterson put forward the motion for Council to formally request the Federal Minister of Transportation to enhance Alto’s mandate to include the addition of a Kingston stop. The motion also states Council will formally oppose the project if the stop is not added.

Kingstonians across sectors appeared before Council to share the importance of a stop in Kingston, including representatives from Queen’s University, Kingston Health Sciences Centre, and Kingston’s business community.

The motion passed with a vote of 9-2, with Councillors Conny Glenn and Jeff McLaren having concerns that the motion could have unintended consequences for neighbouring communities.

Listen to the full story here.