News   Apr 03, 2020
Pastel Morning
 6.2K     1 
News   Apr 02, 2020
A Message to Our Readers
 7.7K     3 
News   Apr 02, 2020
Soon to be Gone
 4.6K     0 

Calgary Regional Rail Transit

CalgaryTiger said:
I always imagine commuter as heavy rail so it could use a twinned line on the freight tracks. I didn't think about having commuter and HSR using the same rails and tech. Maybe that is the way to go. Then is the only heavy line the one from the airport to downtown and on to Banff?
Click to expand...
There was at least one option I remember with 200 kph passenger rail mixed with freight on two shared tracks, both entirely rebuilt. Might have been the JetTrain CPR alignment?
 
darwink said:
There was at least one option I remember with 200 kph passenger rail mixed with freight on two shared tracks, both entirely rebuilt. Might have been the JetTrain CPR alignment?
Click to expand...

I can see something like that working really well for the planned regional lines, Jasper, GP, FtMac, etc, but not for Cal/Edm.

IMO getting between downtowns in ~1hr would be the prime feature of the whole system, and if it isn't done right the first time, it never will be...

Not sure why some are concerned about the nose creek corridor for access to DT Cal? Seems pretty straightforward to me from the plans that have been released so far.

The much more complicated and expensive part of the project will be the part between YEG and DT Edm.

If the intent is to have a fast train, then it has to be as direct as possible, and I can't think of any way to do that in Edm that wouldn't be enormously disruptive and costly. Very interested to see what the province's plans are for that..
 
darwink said:
The province owns the ROW on the bridge across the north saskatchewan and corridor from the legislature to the existing CPR line.
Click to expand...

Well that's a good start! But that bridge is on it's last legs, and I can't see anything other than an underground route working in Strathcona.

Add the semiactive rail yard south of whyte and at least two other grade separations (34/51av) and the costs and complications start to stack up!

Really makes nose creek and a viaduct through Inglewood look simple in comparison..
 
CalgaryTraveller said:
As far as CPKC's appetite to have passenger running on the tracks, it all comes down to money. Given enough funds to at least fully twin the subdivision and upgrade signals/crossings would be a requirement, basically ensuring that the freight traffic isn't impacted. Commuter traffic already moves on their network in Vancouver, the GTA and Montreal, where upgrades to lines and track have been made to accommodate it.
Click to expand...
For leisure destinations like Banff/Jasper, I can see the using freight tracks. But for CGY/EDM, I hope they build dedicated tracks. If you've ever taken the Via on the main corridor, freight takes priority so there's regularly delays and sometimes multi-hour delays.

www.ctvnews.ca

Passenger trains not rolling on time: Why Via blames CN

Warnings of delays on the arrivals and departures board at Via Rail’s Montreal Central Station are now happening at historic levels.
www.ctvnews.ca www.ctvnews.ca
 
MichaelS said:
I can see the Banff train's biggest user base being commuters in/out of Banff, who find more afforadble housing in Cochrane. Hopefully it is still reliable, to help facilitate that.
Click to expand...
I think there is pretty substantial opportunity to do some TAZA-like residential/town development at the interchange with the Casino on Highway 40. Banff and Canmore are quite unaffordable, creating a satellite hub for residence and tourists to explore the national park and everything down highway 40. Couple it with consistent reliable train service and that hub could allow people to work in Calgary and live next door to Kananaskis.
 
Last edited:
Triple post but here we go...

I reread the airport rail study webpage either they rewrote it or I misread it before.

"The findings of the study will be presented as a briefing at the Infrastructure and Planning Committee on January 8, 2025. The final technical report is expected to be completed by Q1 2025 and shared with the Government of Alberta, to support the development of the Passenger Rail Master Plan."

We are never going to see the final technical report. All we are going to get is a briefing note and those VERY high level lines on a map.
 
Reposting this here from the Calgary Transit thread:

I really don’t like the idea of connecting YYC to the Blue Line as our “Airport Connection”.
I hope they decide on an express route from the airport to downtown via the west side of Deerfoot. Something along the lines of what this group is proposing:

Calgary Airport Banff Rail Route

The Calgary Airport – Banff Rail project intends to have seven stops along the 150km route, built on a dedicated line ensuring on-time performance. The rail will be built within the CP Rail corridor and on Calgary Airport Authority’s lands.
friendsofcabr.com friendsofcabr.com
 
FCC1982 said:
Reposting this here from the Calgary Transit thread:

I really don’t like the idea of connecting YYC to the Blue Line as our “Airport Connection”.
I hope they decide on an express route from the airport to downtown via the west side of Deerfoot. Something along the lines of what this group is proposing:

Calgary Airport Banff Rail Route

The Calgary Airport – Banff Rail project intends to have seven stops along the 150km route, built on a dedicated line ensuring on-time performance. The rail will be built within the CP Rail corridor and on Calgary Airport Authority’s lands.
friendsofcabr.com friendsofcabr.com
Click to expand...
Ideally, we have both. You connect to the blue line with regular transit fares, and the express line to downtown can cost 10-15 dollars for the added convenience.
 
First, they did not look at alignments and station locations.

They said, that even for the Calgary to Banff corridor, it was "emerging" that high-speed rail had a much better cost-benefit analysis than conventional. That makes sense since it would be on its own separate corridor, avoiding all the issues with sharing track with freight trains. They engaged with Class 1 freight rail (CPKC/CN), and accessing those tracks was described as "challenging".

Below is the proposed 30-year Network, their "North Star". This doesn't mean that this is what will happen, it is a recommendation. The idea for Calgary--Banff to be high-speed is quite intriguing to me. I would expect Calgary-Edmonton to be high-speed. In the Q&A they emphasized that if we're building greenfield, to avoid freight tracks, why would you not build high-speed, the cost is not actually that much more. They said it was less than double the cost with much higher ridership and many other benefits.

Even for the regional rail, it would be on its own separate greenfield corridor. Once in the area of the cities, high-speed and regional would share the corridor and high-speed would slow down from its 250km/h speed.

Here are some slides.
1750816395018.png



Recommended actions for government until 2040.

1750816548875.png


Next steps for government as part of that delivery plan.

1750816617887.png


Some background they gave. They identified greenfield opportunities, which I found very interesting as I was sure they would try to use existing rail.

1750816701917.png

Here's how they evaluated Regional Rail.
1750816743039.png

And Commuter Rail.
1750816754859.png

They compared using conventional and high-speed rail.
1750816765039.png
 
It's hard to imagine how HSR works for Banff? How long could you really get up to speed for? That slide indicates it might cut out communities...like Cochrane? Canmore? It almost certainly has to go through the reserve at some point...I'd think having a stop there would be important to the nation... And then once you're into the mountains, how straight of a ROW can they really achieve?

Is it possible they'd use the TC1 median?
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top