Thank you, Mr. Chair.
As president and CEO of the Railway Association of Canada, I welcome the opportunity to appear before the committee today to speak on the subject of high-speed rail in Canada.
Our membership, as you know, includes Canadian class one freight railways, CN and CP; a number of U.S. class one railways that operate in Canada, such as BNSF; and some 40 shortline freight railways. Further, we represent regional railways, such as Ontario Northland; Canada's national passenger railway, VIA; large commuter railways GO, AMT, and West Coast; a number of smaller commuter railways; and a number of tourist railways across the country.
Overall, the RAC fully supports all measures that foster increased use of passenger rail services in Canada, including the development of high-speed rail systems. I cannot recall a time when Canadian public support for high-speed rail has been higher. Polling commissioned by the RAC demonstrates that high-speed rail is supported throughout Canada, even in regions of the country where it is unlikely that high-speed rail service will be available at any foreseeable future time. Support is also strong for public and private involvement in future high-speed rail projects.
Going forward, Canada needs both conventional and high-speed rail passenger services. A high-speed rail system must not operate in isolation; it must be a component of a multimodal transportation system. In terms of system efficiency, good linkages to public transit, airports, conventional intercity passenger rail, buses, and a range of other services are absolutely critical for high-speed rail to optimize its benefit to the country.
Today I'd like to focus my comments on the role of governments and the private sector in developing high-speed rail networks and the associated benefits for the rail system, Canadian industry, technology, and the environment.
First, on the public-private interface, there is clearly a role for both public and private sectors in developing a high-speed rail system. Quite frankly, both parties need to work together for high-speed rail to be realized. No major high-speed rail project in the world has been developed by only one of the parties. It takes two to get these jobs done.
To begin, we are glad to see that governments are currently supporting the feasibility study of high-speed rail in Quebec and Ontario and have supported past studies, such as the one recently completed in Alberta. The Quebec-Ontario study should be completed in a timely manner and should look at a range of economic issues, including industrial and environmental benefits for Canada and the potential for technological development and deployment.
Further, this assessment must consider all aspects of the rail network. Entire system efficiency is critical to the future success of our industry. Governments should avoid trade-offs between one part of the system, such as freight, and another part of the system, such as high-speed rail. Investments in passenger rail can improve the rail system for both freight and passenger rail if properly planned and implemented. The current $407-million program to upgrade VIA services on CN's main line is a very good example of those sorts of synergies.
Further, governments must undertake banking, where necessary, of identified corridors. The RAC is aware that the banking of land is currently taking place in Alberta. Getting the corridors identified and the dedicated high-speed rail rights-of-way in place is a critical step in developing any high-speed rail system. To ensure safety and efficiency, the high-speed rail system cannot share track owned and operated by our freight railways. Simply put, ladies and gentlemen, you cannot operate a train at 150 to 200 miles an hour on the one hand, and a freight train at 40 to 60 miles an hour on the other, on the same track. It just won't work.
We believe that it is incumbent on governments to explore all financing options, including public-private partnerships. Even in this current economic climate, there are large pools of capital available in Canada that would be attracted to investments in infrastructure projects that will provide long-term, reasonably predictable returns. I believe that there's greater public support for a partnership arrangement than there is for governments trying to go it alone.
Let me speak now about other benefits. I would like to make a few points about industry, technology, and the environment.
The government must do a thorough analysis of industrial benefits associated with high-speed rail. Canada currently has the resources and the in-house know-how to develop high-speed rail systems. We have a mature railway-supplier industry, including world-class expertise in engineering, track, signaling, locomotive, and railcar design. Given the relatively small passenger rail service market in Canada, Canadian firms export their products and services globally and have been leaders in developing high-speed-rail systems around the world.
Further, constructing a high-speed-rail system would allow manufacturing that was once done in Canada to re-emerge. An example I like to use is steel track. We have the expertise and the capacity to produce track in Canada, but the market is currently not large enough to justify domestic production. The construction of high-speed-rail systems in Canada would require approximately $4 billion in track over a ten-year period. That may be enough to turn the corner. Overall, the development of high-speed rail is a tremendous opportunity for our suppliers and engineers to showcase their expertise and further develop advanced technologies for the Canadian and global markets.
Going further, the demand for transportation, both passenger transportation services and freight, will continue to grow. The recent growth in passenger services, both inter-city and commuter, reached almost 10% last year in 2008. The RAC is pleased that governments are continuing to make significant investments in passenger rail services that will allow our railways to accommodate current and future demands.
Finally, from an environmental standpoint, passenger rail must capture a greater share of future growth in passenger services. If you look at the growth of greenhouse gases over the last decade in Canada, it has occurred primarily in heavy industries and transportation. Measures taken in other areas of the economy to reduce GHGs will be overshadowed if we do not take meaningful action to curb the growth of GHG emissions in the transportation sector. Given the environmental advantages of rail, high-speed rail can significantly contribute to reducing GHG growth, and act as a sustainable component to our national passenger multi-modal system.
I'd like to end on those remarks, Mr. Chair.
Thank you very much for your attention.