[milomilo]

I don't doubt there is a lot of demand. But demand so great that it would be profitable enough for a company to take the huge risk of building a project out of its own pocket? That I find more dubious. Other countries didn't build HSRs because the fares helped the government's revenue, they built them for the good of the country, or because their existing lines were full. The fact these lines required minimal subsidy or were profitable was a prerequisite, rather than the primary aim of the venture.

While I'm not opposed to opening the door to HSR by inviting proposals, I think I agree with Jasper that we should focus our efforts initially on something more down to earth - either some commuter rail or a line to Banff. This has the added effect of making future rail more attractive - we have a huge disadvantage to implementing more rail right now by virtue of the very fact we don't have any and can't benefit from network effects. If, for example, we had a passenger railway to Banff, then a Calgary - Edmonton HSR has an improved business case, as you now have the option of rail travel between Red Deer and Edmonton to Banff also.

Anyway, I hope there is political will for something like this in the future. Kenney doesn't seem like the visionary type though so I don't have high hopes...