Question Period Note: High Frequency Rail

High Frequency Rail – General (during RFQ process)

• High Frequency Rail is expected to be the largest transportation infrastructure project in Canada in generations, bringing faster, greener, more frequent and reliable service to travellers.
• On February 17th, the Government of Canada launched the next major step in the procurement process for High Frequency Rail, a Request for Qualifications, with the goal of identifying a shortlist of qualified respondents to advance this project.
• This will be followed by a Request for Proposals, which will aim to competitively select the best consortium to work with VIA HFR, VIA Rail’s new subsidiary, to design and develop the project.
• Throughout the procurement and co-development process, the private sector will be encouraged to present innovations to meet or exceed project outcomes, including those that would allow for a responsible consideration of high speed segments where there will be the greatest impact and benefit to Canadians.

If Pressed on High Speed Rail:

• Throughout the procurement and co-development process, private sector respondents will be encouraged to analyze the possibility of developing segments of high speed rail in the Québec City to Toronto Corridor.
• This will allow the Government to assess the potential benefits and costs of integrating segments of high speed rail.

If Pressed to provide a specific project cost estimate:

• At this time, it is too early to establish a specific cost for High Frequency Rail in this corridor. Solutions presented throughout the procurement process will help inform cost estimates, which will be further refined throughout the co-development phase once a private developer partner has been successfully identified.

If Pressed on impact on VIA Rail employees:

• The Government will ensure VIA Rail employees are protected by establishing mandatory requirements for the private developer partner.
• Through their proposal, the private developer partner must demonstrate that they will respect VIA Rail employees, their collective agreements and benefits, and commit to a collaborative approach with their unions. Any proposal that does not meet these criteria will not be considered by the Government of Canada.

• In March 2022, the Government of Canada launched the procurement process for the High Frequency Rail project with a Request for Expressions of Interest.
• There was a high level of interest in the Project from both domestic and international parties, with formal responses from a total of 54 interested parties. Responses confirmed support for the overall approach, sought clarifications on some elements of the project, and suggested ways to enhance the design of the procurement process.
• Based on market feedback, the Government of Canada made some changes to the procurement timelines, including launching the Request for Qualifications on February 17, 2023, and shortening the Request for Proposal period.
• The purpose of the Request for Qualifications is to identify and qualify up to three top respondents. These top respondents will then be invited to participate in the Request for Proposals process, which will eventually lead to the selection of the private developer partner. This private developer partner would work collaboratively with VIA HFR to co-develop and optimize the High Frequency Rail project.
• On February 21, 2023 during a briefing to parliamentarians on the High Frequency Rail project, an MP asked a question regarding ridership and revenue forecasting studies which could not be answered during the briefing due to lack of time. The MP submitted the question in writing. For reference, the response can be found below:
  o The ridership and revenue forecasting studies are commercially confidential and cannot be publicly released. These studies are intended to be shared with the Request for Proposals (RFP) Proponents during the RFP Phase and will help the RFP proponents further develop their own ridership and revenue forecasts for the project as part of their bids to become the Government’s Private Developer Partner during the project’s Co-development phase. As a result, releasing the ridership and revenue forecasts to the public could impact the integrity of the HFR procurement process. However, while the specific ridership studies will not be available, the business case supporting the HFR project will be made publicly available and within that report will be a high-level summary of the ridership and revenue forecasting. The release of the RFP is planned for August-September 2023. The business case supporting the HFR project will be made publicly available late Summer 2023.

Location: Ontario, Quebec, National