Québec City-Windsor high-speed rail study - Contract awarded to update high-speed rail feasibility studies

    QUEBEC CITY, Feb. 23 /CNW Telbec/ - The Governments of Québec, Ontario
and Canada today announced that a contract has been awarded to the EcoTrain
Consortium to update the feasibility studies for high-speed rail (HSR) in the
Québec City-Windsor corridor. The consortium is composed of the firms Dessau,
MMM Group (formerly Marshall Macklin Monaghan Limited), KPMG, Wilbur Smith &
Associates and Deutsche Bahn International (DB International).
    The $3-million study will be funded equally by each government. The study
will focus on the following areas, in particular:

    - HSR technology and route options;
    - transportation demand forecasts;
    - development and operating costs;
    - environmental and social impacts;
    - financial and economic analyses;
    - institutional framework of foreign HSR experiences;
    - implementation scenarios;
    - impacts on other transportation modes; and
    - recommendations on the future action plan.

    This high-speed rail study will allow governments to better understand
the scope of this proposed project, such as the environment, the potential
level of demand and the financial implications. It will also update data and
information that was previously gathered during earlier studies.

For further information: Canada: Media Relations, Transport Canada,
(613) 993-0055; Ontario: Bob Nichols, Ontario Ministry of Transportation,
(416) 327-1158; Québec: Media Relations, Ministère des Transports du Québec,
Québec: (418) 644-4444; Montréal: (514) 873-5600; Toll free: 1-866-341-5724