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Calgary Regional Rail Transit

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:

1722610839598.png

There's definitely the opportunity for some kind of corridor in Alberta:
1722610900614.png
 
FriendlyDrunks said:
livewirecalgary.com

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

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. Liricon Capital Ltd. and Plenary Americas said they’ve restructured their Calgary Airport Banff Rail...
livewirecalgary.com livewirecalgary.com
Click to expand...
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.
 
Last edited:
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.
 
Calgcouver said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.
 
Didn't want to put this in the green line thread... They've got new ideas over at Waterous and they're... Interesting?

calgaryherald.com

Opinion: Untying Calgary's airport, downtown and Green Line Gordian knot

The city's Plus-15 system provides a solution to how to build the Green Link, link to the airport and also run a train out to Banff.
calgaryherald.com calgaryherald.com

"If CPKC gets on board, the province can build CADE from the airport to downtown within the CPKC rail corridor and then elevate the track for 5.5 km between the Bow River and 11th Street S.W. CADE’s 2.4-km downtown section could include three new stations along 9th Avenue: Downtown East (at 4th Street S.E. — Grand Central Station), Midtown (at 3rd Street S.W.) and Downtown West (at 11th Street S.W)."

No way it happens. I like the Waterous' though, they're like us but have money.

friendsofcabr.com

Friends of Calgary Airport Banff Rail

Using the first hydrogen-powered passenger train in North America, the Calgary Airport Banff Rail will connect Calgary's airport to downtown Calgary and out to Banff with train stops in between.
friendsofcabr.com friendsofcabr.com
 
CalgaryTiger said:
Didn't want to put this in the green line thread... They've got new ideas over at Waterous and they're... Interesting?

calgaryherald.com

Opinion: Untying Calgary's airport, downtown and Green Line Gordian knot

The city's Plus-15 system provides a solution to how to build the Green Link, link to the airport and also run a train out to Banff.
calgaryherald.com calgaryherald.com

"If CPKC gets on board, the province can build CADE from the airport to downtown within the CPKC rail corridor and then elevate the track for 5.5 km between the Bow River and 11th Street S.W. CADE’s 2.4-km downtown section could include three new stations along 9th Avenue: Downtown East (at 4th Street S.E. — Grand Central Station), Midtown (at 3rd Street S.W.) and Downtown West (at 11th Street S.W)."

No way it happens. I like the Waterous' though, they're like us but have money.

friendsofcabr.com

Friends of Calgary Airport Banff Rail

Using the first hydrogen-powered passenger train in North America, the Calgary Airport Banff Rail will connect Calgary's airport to downtown Calgary and out to Banff with train stops in between.
friendsofcabr.com friendsofcabr.com
Click to expand...
I actually quite like this plan, although I'm guessing his estimate using the Blue Line extension is way off. The big loss is the NCLRT, which arguably has greater need than the SE. The other risk is they pull a province of AB, commit to building it, and when we build the CADE, they say oops no money for the CABR.
 
Do these guys actually have a plan? It seems like everytime they open their mouths it's a different plan to grab onto the coat tails of whatever the Govt mentions.
Was the dt section ever proposed as elevated until the Prov started to muse about elevated for the GL?

The Sunalta leg of the BL crossed CPKC at one point over 14th st, other than the footbridge over 9th, the station and right of way are outside the CPKC track right of way, aren't they?
I don't see how CPKC allows you to inconvenience their line, whilst building directly overhead, for trackage and stations on a track they wouldn't be able to use.
 
Gazyyc said:
Do these guys actually have a plan? It seems like everytime they open their mouths it's a different plan to grab onto the coat tails of whatever the Govt mentions.
Was the dt section ever proposed as elevated until the Prov started to muse about elevated for the GL?

The Sunalta leg of the BL crossed CPKC at one point over 14th st, other than the footbridge over 9th, the station and right of way are outside the CPKC track right of way, aren't they?
I don't see how CPKC allows you to inconvenience their line, whilst building directly overhead, for trackage and stations on a track they wouldn't be able to use.
Click to expand...
Their original plan was YYC-Banff directly but I think they realized the limited local and political support for that (almost entirely for tourism). And now they're saying they'll build downtown-Banff, if the province can get them a connection to the airport. I think that's the better plan anyways, drive more local traffic and with Banff's hotel rates (I didn't realize how bad it's gotten), a downtown connection seems best for tourists, Calgary business, and Calgary residents.

The CPKC portion of the line (Grand Central to airport) has been discussed as a transit option for years, also known as the Nose Creek alignment. Obviously there will be payment to CPKC and previous analysis done by the city found it the most feasible (highest deliverability). It's not great for an LRT for a bunch of reasons, but for an Airport-Downtown-Banff connection isn't a bad idea.

livewirecalgary.com

Rewind: Why the Nose Creek transit alignment was kicked to the curb more than a decade ago - LiveWire Calgary

Premier Danielle Smith mused about resurrecting a north Green Line plan that would take it through the Nose Creek Valley – a plan thrown out after analysis by the City of Calgary more than a decade ago. The Premier made the comments Wednesday when asked about Calgary’s failed Green Line...
livewirecalgary.com livewirecalgary.com
 
I wasn't referring to the Nose Creek portion, specifically the DT CPKC main line. In the valley, you can add a track without much impact I would imagine to CPKC operations. I'd imagine they'd also look to get access rights for when passenger trains aren't running so they'd be open to working with whoever.
I don't see that for DT though. Directly overhead of their tracks, unless your throwing a train full of cash at them, the impact to daily operations would be fairly drastic I'd imagine.

And by plan changing, this is the first I recall of the DT section for the Banff rail, being elevated (mentioned after the Prov muses about elevated rail). These guys did the same with YYC to DT. Weren't they going to build the whole thing and then when Regional rail was announced, they changed their tune and wanted to run on Govt built tracks from YYC to DT.
 
From the article

The only obstructions above the CPKC Rail corridor requiring removal are a 50-year-old parking garage and a single deck of a separate parking structure. Expropriation of condos, office towers or retail is not required.
Click to expand...

Does this mean their plan is to demo the Palliser Parkade and then part of City Center Parkade (Gulf Canada)?

Can't see that going over very well
 
Gazyyc said:
I wasn't referring to the Nose Creek portion, specifically the DT CPKC main line. In the valley, you can add a track without much impact I would imagine to CPKC operations. I'd imagine they'd also look to get access rights for when passenger trains aren't running so they'd be open to working with whoever.
I don't see that for DT though. Directly overhead of their tracks, unless your throwing a train full of cash at them, the impact to daily operations would be fairly drastic I'd imagine.

And by plan changing, this is the first I recall of the DT section for the Banff rail, being elevated (mentioned after the Prov muses about elevated rail). These guys did the same with YYC to DT. Weren't they going to build the whole thing and then when Regional rail was announced, they changed their tune and wanted to run on Govt built tracks from YYC to DT.
Click to expand...
I had misread it as elevated over 9th ave, but agreed over CPKC is a challenge, considering some sections don't have the clearance Sunalta has. Like what do they plan to do between 2nd and 4th st SW? Also agree they throw a lot of stuff out there and they aren't signing contracts to build anything. But it's understandable. When the provincial plan is changing day by day, I wouldn't expect a private developer to commit to building a business case and cost estimate for a rail line.

Edit: I guess this is one of the demolitions... definitely over simplifying things saying "oh, we'll just get rid of anything in our way"
 
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