Patrick Brown is in support of high speed rail between Toronto and Windsor, and if elected the Progressive Conservative leader said his government will continue to fund the environmental assessment for the project.

Brown was in London Thursday with a stop in Kitchener, peddling his platform through a region already seeing signs of a future rail line.

The Wynne government announced in May it was moving forward with a plan to build a high-speed rail corridor between Toronto and Windsor with stops in Kitchener and London.

Yellow chevrons marking the high-speed rail route between London and Toronto are painted to help with the environment assessment. (Submitted by Kelly Elliot)

Brown said he will match that commitment.

"We're going to fund the environmental assessment, which is currently allocated. But I would note the difference between the PCs and the Liberals is the Liberals make this promise every election and then they forget about it."

When asked for a timeline on when a Conservative government would have high-speed trains up and running, Brown said it would be premature to comment before the environmental assessment is completed.

The current timeline shows the Toronto to London portion of the corridor (phase one) could be completed by 2025, with environmental assessment getting underway in the spring of 2018.

In May, the Liberals invested $15 million to complete the environmental assessment, noting at the same time that phase one could potentially cost $12 billion.

Minister response

Brown said he's disappointed the Wynne government's 12-year capital spending plan does not include funding for the construction phase of the project.

"The fact that the actual infrastructure dollars aren't allocated is disappointing. I think we have inadequate transportation corridors in Southwestern Ontario, and I think we should better."

It's the first time the PC leader has committed his support for the Liberal's plans for high speed rail.

Steven Del Duca, Ontario's minister of transportation, reached out to CBC News Thursday to voice concerns related to potential cuts insinuated in Brown's platform.

Del Duca elaborated on high speed rail's environmental assessment — citing a commitment to talk to all affected, including rural residents.

"We are still refining the timeline. But the premier is 100 per cent committed to this. I'm 100 per cent committed to this … These processes are methodical. They are deliberate and they do take time," he said.

"There are a lot of other community consultation works we want to do with our municipal partners, with the private sector, with our First Nations partners and with others.

From trains to 401 barriers

File photo.

Brown also pledged his support for concrete median barriers on Highway 401 west of London.

The barriers have become an issue because of a number of cross-over crashes and deaths in the past 6 months.

There's been a proposal to install high-tension cable barriers along the median but community groups, including victims families, are pushing for concrete barriers.

Brown said Thursday that it's time for the Liberal government to "do the right thing, to put safety of drivers first and to build this barrier."

Del Duca said staff continues to look at options to ensure the safety of people travelling along that stretch of 401 — including concrete barriers.

"I definitely want that stretch of the 401 … to have protection in place as soon as possible,"

"Can we deploy a high concrete barrier in a short timeframe or will that take longer? Will the community feel comfortable having no protection through that stretch of highway for a longer period of time?" said Del Duca, who continues to analyze all options.