The Alto high-speed train will reduce travel time from Toronto to Montreal by ONLY 21 minutes, and not 2 hours as they claim.

The Alto train has to go through Ottawa and Laval to get to Montreal.  It doesn't take a direct route. 

High-speed trains in Europe, that are similar to Alto's plans, run at an average speed of 159 km per hour.  (See documentation below.)  This is true even though their maximum speed is much higher, 300 km per hour.

Alto's route is 532 km long – from Toronto through Peterborough, Ottawa, and Laval and finally to downtown Montreal.  There will be 5-minute stops at Peterborough, Ottawa, and Laval.

So, the total Alto travel time from Toronto to Montreal is:

(532 km divided by 159 km per hour, then plus 15 minutes at the stops = ) 3 hours and 35 minutes.

VIA Rail used to have a direct express train from Toronto to Montreal called the Turbo Train.  It used the same rails that exist now.  Its top speed was 274 km per hour.  Its average speed was 135 km per hour.  There were no 5-minute stops.

So, the Turbo Train travel time from Toronto to Montreal was 3 hours and 56 minutes.

If we revived the Turbo Train, using the existing CN rails, the travel time would be only 21 minutes slower than for the proposed Alto high-speed train. 

Not much of a reason to spend $115 billion on a slightly faster train!

See documentation PDF below - a professional review of all high-speed trains in Europe -  

"High-speeds, however, are never reached in practice: trains run on average at only around 45 % of the line’s design speed on the lines audited. . . . only two lines were operating at an average speed above 200 km/h, and none above 250 km/h." From report: "A European high-speed rail network: not a reality but an ineffective patchwork. European Court of Auditors" (part of the European Union government), 2018.