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City council won’t be the push on this one. Has to be the province. And no, it isn’t quick and easy since the rail lines are full. Extensive capital improvements would be needed. And it is CP.
 
Dārayavauš said:
Has there been any inidcation from Calgary City Council that Commuter Rail will ever come? It seems like a relatively quick and easy thing to establish. Just need to negotiate with CN Rail.
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City of Calgary has it in their 50 - 75 year plan, in the very distant future, might happen might not.
The goal of Rail For Alberta www.railalberta.com is to bring that timeline forward as quickly as possible. It is not just a negotiation with CP, it involves getting all the municipalities on board and also the Provincial Government. There is a substantial infrastructure cost, but the cost to add lanes to Deerfoot Trail/QE2 will actually be more, the next write up I am doing.
 
A train to Banff is a noble idea, but is it the correct place to start?
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JasperTF said:
A train to Banff is a noble idea, but is it the correct place to start?
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This would primarily be a provincial/federal investment, so the right place to start is wherever the most political will lies. There's federal interest in creating a less car-intensive experience in Parks. Inner city Calgary still has the potential to elect Liberal MPs which is helpful too. There is some provincial interest as well. Calgary (plus Banff-Kananaskis) have most of the swing ridings in the legislature.

It's a great sign that CIB is at least taking a look at this now. The timing would be opportune for the Liberals to put this in their re-election platform.
 
zagox said:
This would primarily be a provincial/federal investment, so the right place to start is wherever the most political will lies. There's federal interest in creating a less car-intensive experience in Parks. Inner city Calgary still has the potential to elect Liberal MPs which is helpful too. There is some provincial interest as well. Calgary (plus Banff-Kananaskis) have most of the swing ridings in the legislature.

It's a great sign that CIB is at least taking a look at this now. The timing would be opportune for the Liberals to put this in their re-election platform.
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On the project side, the case is there. I hope this study confirms and reconfirms assumptions identified in the previous Bow Valley Mass Transit Study, but goes further to beef up their proposal. On the optimistic side, dedicated tracks and possible electricification would be enormous (but unlikely), on the more conservative side something akin to the Union-Pearson express with a bit beefier trains for the Downtown to Banff leg would be reasonable.

Most importantly, a real, tangibly high quality regional transit player will be created in a province with nothing even close to it today. That's sets up future expansions and commuter services as it's no longer some figment of imagination for most people - they can point to an example right nearby and ask "why don't we do something like that?". Helps sell these train project better than the friend who came back from Europe or Japan and rants about great quality train travel as if it's science fiction.
 
edmontonjournal.com

Opinion: Take Alberta back to the future by expanding passenger rail service

To empower our communities, unite our province, and grow our economy, Alberta needs big ideas.
edmontonjournal.com edmontonjournal.com
Passenger rail service in the existing CP Right of Way, using CFR compliant rolling stock that is compatible with freight operations, will enable regional rail that connects all the towns and cities in the Calgary - Edmonton corridor.
 
I still don't think there has been any material change would make the service any better than the last few iterations of what was cancelled in the 80s, without a massive capital spend.
 
darwink said:
I still don't think there has been any material change would make the service any better than the last few iterations of what was cancelled in the 80s, without a massive capital spend.
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The Van Horne Institute estimate for the CPR alternative (upgrading and twinning the existing CPR Right of Way) was $1.7 billion in 2004. Extrapolating the Calgary Bow Valley Mass Transit Feasibility Study cost estimates to the Calgary - Edmonton corridor, I estimate the capital spend to be at least $2.5 billion.
Do we spend hundreds of billions on roads in the Calgary - Edmonton corridor, or a few billion on passenger rail?
There are economic costs and benefits, what about the social and environmental costs and benefits?
Something will need to be done regarding transportation in the Calgary - Edmonton corridor, it's just a matter of what.
 
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