OTTAWA (Reuters) - An international consortium including Air Canada, AtkinsRealis Group and France's SNCF has won a C$3.9 billion six-year contract to help develop a high-speed passenger rail network in eastern Canada, Ottawa said on Wednesday.

The contract covers the first stage of planning the network, which would span approximately 1,000 km (620 miles) from Quebec City to Toronto and allow trains to reach speeds of up to 300 kph (186 mph). The government says current travel times would be halved, with a Montreal to Toronto trip taking three hours.

Ottawa did not say how long the network would take to build and how much it would cost. Governments have talked for decades about a dedicated line for passenger trains, which have to share the track with freight trains and often suffer delays.

In a statement, the government said the Toronto-Quebec City corridor was home to 18 million people and accounted for 40% of national GDP.

The consortium, called Cadence, also includes the Quebec provincial pension fund and French firms Keolis and Systra.