Leong: Hopeful steps toward bringing back daily rail service in Alberta

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Alberta politics recently made an unexpected stop on its long, painful journey to restore regular daily passenger rail service in the province.

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The fact that the provincial government had spoken on the subject was only surpassed by the ambition of the proposed effort.

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It all started with the 2024 budget allocation of $9 million to study the revitalization of rail services in Alberta.

We got a better look at the government's approach last week, and it's objectively bold.

If this happens, it will change transportation in Alberta.

The province is currently served by only two infrequent transcontinental services: the twice-weekly Vancouver-Toronto train via Jasper and Edmonton and the thrice-weekly Jasper-Prince Rupert train via Prince George.

In addition to local rail services in Calgary, the much-talked-about but never-realized Edmonton-Calgary rail link through Red Deer will see the light of day, according to Alberta's newly released passenger rail master plan roadmap. and Edmonton areas, as well as services to Rocky Mountain Parks west of Calgary.

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The master plan also includes proposed regional rail lines to Fort McMurray/Wood Buffalo, Grande Prairie, Lethbridge and Medicine Hat.

All this in 15 years.

Reach for the stars, they say.

Before a new attempt to restore passenger rails: further research

Of course, the first step to realizing this vision is … more research.

The results of the work are expected relatively quickly from a policy perspective, with the master plan now expected to be completed in just over a year.

Those who follow such things know how passenger rail has been studied over and over again.

The Calgary-Edmonton connection is not a new idea. Not since 1985 has a daily passenger train run along Alberta's busiest corridor. Since then, attempts to introduce high-speed trains have failed.

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Meanwhile, an active proposal to return a profitable passenger railway to Banff National Park — the closest thing Albertans have seen to a train revival in a long time — is now tied to a provincial government announcement.

The potential delay caused by the province's new research is certainly disappointing, but there's something to be said for a province-wide effort at rail transportation, rather than separate, disconnected efforts that could interfere with and duplicate each other.

For example, there are currently disparate ideas for bringing rail service to Calgary International Airport: service from the airport through downtown Calgary to Banff; airport service as part of a regional railway; and airport service as part of the city's CTrain.

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More coordination is needed if these ideas are to coexist and succeed.

Alberta can't just rely on highways to help people get around: Smith

Most interesting were some of the verbiage used by Alberta Premier Daniel Smith.

He recognized that the travel needs of Alberta's rapidly growing population could not be met by endlessly expanding highways alone.

“It's not always possible to widen our roads and highways to six or eight or 10 lanes,” Smith said at a news conference last week. “A densely populated province needs a mobility system that supports our growing population with fast, safe and reliable transportation options.”

It was also important to highlight multimodal transport, but the government could take it further by realizing that people have to get to the train somehow and can take another mode of transport from the train. buses, planes, cars or anything else.

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Honestly, I don't think it takes much convincing to convince anyone who's made the grueling (and sometimes dangerous) journey from Edmonton to Calgary that it's much more relaxing and fun to take the train and let someone else do it. drive instead.

As beautiful as the drive is between Calgary and Banff, I prefer to take public transportation to Canada's premier national park and not have to worry about finding a place to park my car when I get there.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

This is just the latest baby step after many other baby steps in a long saga.

Let this action be greeted with a green light on the smooth road.

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