In recent months, there have been talks about a high-speed train from Toronto to Montreal, and now the City of Toronto is looking to establish a similar connection between Toronto and New York.  On Wednesday, Council adopted a motion forwarded by Councillor Paul Ainslie, seconded by Councillor Nick Mantas, to support a high-speed rail connection between Toronto and New York City to significantly reduce the travel time between the two major urban centers, “fostering closer economic ties and increased tourism”.

The proposal comes weeks after New York State Senator Jeremy A. Cooney advocated for a high-speed rail connection between the two megacities.

“Why not implement this technology in our back yard?”

It’s time to bring high-speed rail to Upstate New York and connect the major hubs of Toronto and New York City.

Read More here 👇🏾https://t.co/Z9iD25hWmE

— Senator Jeremy Cooney (@SenatorCooney) November 24, 2024

“Why not implement this technology in our back yard?” It’s time to bring high-speed rail to Upstate New York and connect the major hubs of Toronto and New York City,” Cooney, who is also the Chairman of the US Senate Transportation Committee, wrote in an X post in late November. Referencing his recent Newsweek article about the initiative, he calls it a “winning proposition.”

“High speed rail has been talked about in Upstate for a long time,” Cooney told the publication. “Flash forward to now…Toronto is a much larger economic hub than it was 20 years ago…The business proposition and attractiveness of connecting the Toronto economic market to the New York City economic market is more viable.”

A direct flight between Toronto and New York is just under 2 hours, and it takes about 8.5 hours to drive between the two cities. These are ideal options compared to the Maple Leaf train between Toronto and New York — it stops at about 21 stations and takes 12+ hours to travel. As most modern high-speed trains can travel at speeds between 250 and 350 km/h, a high-speed rail trip between Toronto and New York could ideally be complete in 2–2.5 hours, with minimal stops.

With the current rail service between the two cities, there have been complaints about major delays due to everything from border issues to freight conflicts and engine swaps, so a high-speed connection would be a major upgrade.

This rail project also aligns with the City’s commitment to sustainable transportation and reducing greenhouse gas emissions (and there is growing support for this initiative).

The next step is to request the Federal Government to also support a Toronto–New York corridor high-speed train, so we’ll keep an eye out for updates.