Centre Hastings Advocates for Madoc Area High-Speed Rail Station

03 February 2026
Centre Hastings Advocates for Madoc Area High-Speed Rail Station

The Municipality of Centre Hastings is formally advocating for the Madoc / Highway 62–Highway 7 corridor to be identified as the preferred future intermediate station location on the proposed Alto High-Speed Rail (HSR) corridor between Peterborough and Ottawa.

The Alto High-Speed Rail project is a joint initiative of the Governments of Canada and Ontario and proposes an electrified passenger rail corridor connecting Toronto, Peterborough, Ottawa, Montréal, and Québec City. While current plans do not include a station between Peterborough and Ottawa, Council believes there is a strategic opportunity at this stage of planning to protect and identify future station-ready locations.

Madoc’s unique location at the intersection of Highway 7 (Trans-Canada Highway) and Highway 62 makes it the only point between Peterborough and Ottawa with full east–west and north–south provincial highway access. This positioning allows a future station to serve a broad regional catchment, including Hastings County communities, the Belleville–Quinte region, Prince Edward County, and northern Ontario communities such as Bancroft.

Council’s position is that a future station at Madoc would:

  • Improve regional and rural access to national transportation infrastructure;

  • Support economic development and tourism across eastern Ontario;

  • Encourage a shift away from long-distance automobile travel to low-emission rail; and

  • Offer a practical, cost-effective location for future expansion due to available land and reduced development constraints.

Council has endorsed this advocacy position and will forward a formal resolution to the federal and provincial Ministers of Transportation, Alto project representatives, and regional stakeholders, requesting that the Madoc area be recognized and protected as a preferred future station location as the project advances.

This advocacy does not commit the Municipality to any financial contribution and is focused on long-term regional planning and equitable access to major transportation investments.

The full Council report can be found on the Municipality’s portal here: Centre Hastings - Meeting Information 

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