Alberta’s government is eyeing train connections between airports and the downtown cores of its two biggest cities as the first key projects in its new passenger rail plan. But construction isn’t expected to start any time soon and the first users will likely have to wait about 30 years.
The government says it plans to spend $15 million over the next three years to move ahead with planning those routes and others before shovels break ground.
Late last week the government released an executive summary that sees high-speed rail between Edmonton and Calgary, and a train connecting Calgary to the Rocky Mountain resort town of Banff, within 30 years.
It also sees trains potentially connecting Edmonton and Calgary to surrounding suburbs.
The airport connections would be built as extensions to each city’s existing light-rail transit systems.
Premier Danielle Smith said the airport links – a major priority that the government heard about during public engagement – are the most feasible in the short term.
“We heard many perspectives, but one thing was abundantly clear: a feasible passenger rail network is no longer just a vision for Alberta, it’s a goal,” said Smith, speaking at the Calgary International Airport. “Certainly, it is an ambitious goal, and it will take about three decades of steady incremental work to achieve it.”
Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas said that after years and years of talk about building a passenger rail system in Alberta, he’s thrilled to see it nearing reality.
“Calgary is Canada’s fastest-growing major city. As we continue to welcome new residents and businesses, we need infrastructure that matches our ambition,” Farkas said in a statement.
Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack also said he was excited. Having a train to the airport would be “transformative” for the province’s capital, he said.
The master plan says the full build-out would cost at least $60 billion.
Despite the roadblocks, a family who submitted an unsolicited proposal for Calgary-to-Banff train service five years ago is convinced the project is closer than ever to being built.
“We think that hopefully now we’re off to the races,” said billionaire oil executive Adam Waterous. He and his wife, Jan, are behind holding company Liricon Capital.
The family is promising to eat the cost of building the Calgary-to-Banff line, if Alberta pays to connect downtown Calgary to the city’s airport.
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