Calgary Regional Rail Transit

[CalgaryTiger]

the province is really touting their Rail Plan with the whole Green Line thing, I thought what they had put out was that they're doing a rail plan, not that they have one? Now we're hearing about a Grand Central Station.

From a CBC TV news story someone from the provincial government said:

We've actually been working closely with the green line board to make sure that (it aligns with) the master rail plan that the province just released not that long ago (we) made sure that (the master rail plan) ties into both Edmonton and Calgary's LRT systems... as well as (the province investing) over $300 million in the events center, (so) that (the events center) gets connected and that the blue line and the red line LRTs would get connected with this green line start. so all those conditions were met, so from a provincial standpoint it's great to see these trains being built, but obviously they have to be connected because like a nervous system, a rail line only works when it's connected, and we want to make sure that the province and our major cities were well aligned in rail projects going forward.

It is very interesting to me that the province is so publicly invested in rail. Hopefully it actually turns into something.

Saw this on Reddit:

There's definitely the opportunity for some kind of corridor in Alberta:

 

[darwink]

I thought what they had put out was that they're doing a rail plan, not that they have one?

The province has owned the land needed for almost 20 years now.

 

[Ramsayite]

HSR? You're dreaming!

HSR would be perfect for Alberta but you're right there's too many car-brained people in this province for it to work easily.

 

[FriendlyDrunks]

Calgary to Banff rail group says it will foot route construction costs if the province builds an airport-to-downtown track

The group behind a Calgary to Banff passenger rail line said they’ll pay for that whole route if the province comes through with an express rail route from the airport to Calgary’s downtown. …

livewirecalgary.com

 

[Calgcouver]

Calgary to Banff rail group says it will foot route construction costs if the province builds an airport-to-downtown track

The group behind a Calgary to Banff passenger rail line said they’ll pay for that whole route if the province comes through with an express rail route from the airport to Calgary’s downtown. …

livewirecalgary.com

I honestly think the airport connector is easy if you use mostly existing road ROWs. Extend from Saddletowne Station north along 60St NE (on the westside of the street). Then run on the southside of Airport Trail. Run the two trains on the two southern most lanes through the Airport Tunnel. Remove centre dividing barriers for a distance leading into both sides of the tunnel. The remaining eastbound lane not taken up by the train could run through the southside tunnel, and the southern most lane in the north tunnel could be for eastbound traffic. You would still have two lanes of traffic flowing each way. Could put the concrete dividers back there or not. Run it down the eastside of the onramp from Barlow and then run elevated to the International Airport Terminal.

 

[UrbanWarrior]

I think they’re referring to a heavy rail train not the LRT extension. In that case it could just be elevated on the median of Deerfoot or at grade parallel to the rails next to Deerfoot for most of the length, then elevated east to the airport, and same along the rail line into downtown via Inglewood. Easier said than done, but it’s time for us to quit fuckin around, take off the kid gloves, and start dreaming big.


Also in regard to the Reddit map posted above, to put in perspective, of the 10 million people in the purple area, around 4.2 million of them live in the Albertan section. That number is now increasing by 100 - 200k a year and has been for a while, and will continue to do so for a bit. We can definitely handle HFR at the very least, if not fullblown HSR.

 

[CBBarnett]

I honestly think the airport connector is easy if you use mostly existing road ROWs. Extend from Saddletowne Station north along 60St NE (on the westside of the street). Then run on the southside of Airport Trail. Run the two trains on the two southern most lanes through the Airport Tunnel. Remove centre dividing barriers for a distance leading into both sides of the tunnel. The remaining eastbound lane not taken up by the train could run through the southside tunnel, and the southern most lane in the north tunnel could be for eastbound traffic. You would still have two lanes of traffic flowing each way. Could put the concrete dividers back there or not. Run it down the eastside of the onramp from Barlow and then run elevated to the International Airport Terminal.

I think something like that was contemplated when the tunnel opened. Here's an article from 2014: link

"The tunnel, which will open to vehicle traffic on Sunday at 5:00 a.m., will connect Airport Trail between 36 St. N.E. and Barlow Trail, and allow six lanes of traffic to flow beneath the Calgary International Airport’s new runway. Proposed plans include the extension of the LRT line through the tunnel to the airport terminal."

It was part of the justification for making the tunnel so large in the first place. Using that capacity is smart - whether it's LRT or some other form of connection.