Province plans passenger rail connections between Edmonton and Calgary by 2040s

Article content

In what is being called its biggest initiative, the UCP government is moving forward with plans to study and likely build a rail network with commuter service around the two largest cities and a high-speed link between Edmonton and Calgary.

A feasibility study to be completed in the summer of 2025 would include rail connections between Calgary and Banff and Edmonton and Jasper, Transportation and Economic Corridors Minister Devin Dreeshen said.

Article content

Article content

A provincial crown corporation would be created to build and operate regional commuter rail lines in the Calgary and Edmonton regions, while networks in the rest of the province would be privately managed, but would ultimately all feed into a common network , said.

“This involves bringing together an entire province, interconnected like a nervous system,” Dreeshen said.

“This is a huge task…probably the biggest announcement this government has ever made and is likely to make in its four-year term.”

It’s all part of the province’s rail master plan that emerged last year in a mandate letter from Premier Danielle Smith.

“She has shown a very personal interest in seeing this implemented and executed,” Dreeshen said.

But before doing anything, the government is embarking on a $9 million feasibility study to assess passenger demand and infrastructure needs that will be completed by summer 2025, when requests for proposals will be sent to private companies. , a process that would take two years.

The government predicts that Alberta’s population, now nearly 4.9 million, will reach about 7.1 million in 2051.

Article content

Article content

Depending on the results of the study, Dreeshen said building the network would take about 15 years, the price and financing formula of which are uncertain but “would cost many billions of dollars.”

Its centerpiece would be a high-speed line linking Edmonton and Calgary with a stop in Red Deer, the minister said.

“The focus is primarily on Edmonton and Calgary, where 80 per cent of (Alberta’s) population is located,” Dreeshen said.

He noted that it has been a transportation vision for decades, but that the province has always lacked the critical mass of population to make it viable.

In recent years, there have been a number of proposals to link the two main cities, one of them a 1,000km/h magnetic duo monorail that would reduce journey time to 30 minutes.

Another is a more conventional $9 billion high-speed train called Prairie Link, which would travel between 350 and 400 km/h with a stop midway in Red Deer.

Also in the mix is ​​a plan by Banff-based Liricon Capital to build a $2.6 billion, 150-kilometre hydrogen-powered passenger line between Calgary airport and the mountain resort.

Article content

Dreeshen said all of those players could ultimately submit proposals.

Also underway is the connection of Calgary International Airport to the Blue Line LRT, for which the province has dedicated $3 million to study, an evaluation that should be completed this summer with a connection completed in three years, Dreeshen said.

Group concerned about apparent “lack of acceptance of private sector investment”

Proponents of the proposed Calgary to Banff Airport Rail (CABR) have said that implementing the master plan study and request for proposals over several years would effectively kill their plan, whose funding and collaboration with Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway ( CPKC) depends on a quick commitment from the province.

“Time is of the essence,” said Bruce Graham of the group Friends of CABR, who say proponents signed a memorandum of understanding with CPKC in May 2021 that is now in jeopardy.

CABR project director Nick Hann said the announcement confirms his concerns that Dreeshen’s ministry does not understand the role the private sector can play in rail development.

Article content

“We are particularly concerned about the apparent focus on establishing a Metrolinx-style provincial rail corporation, which we believe reflects a lack of acceptance of private sector investment,” he said.

But Dreeshen said there is a need to evaluate the province’s overall rail needs before making any commitment to a component or service provider.

“The CPKC actually supports this general vision of how all of this is going to be connected,” he said.

“We wouldn’t want to have a project that excludes other parts of the network.”

He said there is considerable international corporate interest in Alberta’s strategy, but CPKC’s focus is on freight transportation, not passenger rail transportation.

Rail transportation advocates have long called for more regional commuter links and passenger connections between major cities as a way to spur economic development and tourism, combat climate change and reduce traffic congestion.

“We’ll see how things go from plans to action,” said Justin Simaluk, president of the Rail for Alberta Partnership.

But he welcomed the announcement, calling it an important step toward a strategy that could facilitate the use of existing rail corridors with a strategy that has worked in other jurisdictions.

“Establishing a Metrolinx-like planning and governance body in Ontario is something we see as a critical part of the overall plan,” Simaluk said.

“We are pleased to see that the province is moving in the right direction to ensure that passenger rail in Alberta is not just a fad, but is poised to greatly benefit the way we move for generations to come.”

[email protected]

X (Twitter) @BillKaufmannjrn

Article content