Returning Passenger Rail to Banff National Park: The Calgary Airport - Banff Railway Project

On January 17, 1990, passenger service in most of Western Canada was discontinued by VIA Rail as a result of funding cuts, which included the original alignment of The Canadian, which ran on the Canadian Pacific Mainline through Calgary, Banff and various other communities.
In this particular proposal, the Calgary Airport - Banff railway plans to restore service between the city and the famous National Park to offer an environmentally friendly alternative to driving with frequent departures and a direct connection to the Calgary International Airport. Join us as we explore what the project could look like in a short few years.
Video by David Bellerive (@DBellerive15)
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[@CharlieND]

I hope this comes to fruition. This would be great for the region.

[@inventor121]

I'm more concerned that they aren't considering overhead lines. Those lines will mean more efficient energy usage as there are a lot of hydroelectric dams in the region and you wouldn't need to store the additional mass of fueling equipment, fuel, and fuel cells on the train reducing the mass you need to move and also reducing the speed.

[@RailFansCanada]

Per the design work done by Liricon and their partners, the issue with overhead lines is not the lines themselves, but the trackside equipment need (transformers, power distribution, etc.) that would not have enough space in Downtown Calgary. I'd argue it is a "convenient" excuse to disregard electrification and its added costs for a project that needs to make a profit for Liricon, either directly or indirectly (increased traffic at their resort and the Banff Railway lands). There are ways to reduce the space needed, but they all involve added cost and complexity. It is possible the costs for electrification would make the business case very difficult to achieve. In regards to performance: Alstom claims that the Coradia I-LINT prototypes had similar performance to the diesel variant of the same rolling stock. The weight difference is also relatively minor to a diesel one. Though you are right: an electric trainset likely would have better performance in a more urban setup. -David

[@SeanSL]

@@RailFansCanada That really does sound like a lame excuse. There are hundreds of major cities around that world that can make overhead power work... I would think that Calgary, not exactly famous for its density, would have enough room for a few transformers!

[@leehaber]

To add to the argument that their arguments against electrification are probably BS, for 25kv AC, you only need transformers every 50 km. I'm sure they can find a place along the 50 km section within Calgary to fit a transformer.

[@inventor121]

@@leehaber Calgary isn't even 50km wide, you could put two transformers on opposite ends of the city and you'd be perfectly fine. Also there are plenty of places trackside within downtown (not to mention the endless suburbs) to fit a few transformers. There are at least 7 surface parking lots I can think of in downtown right beside the railways tracks.

[@inventor121]

@@RailFansCanada There are plenty of places trackside within downtown (not to mention the endless suburbs) to fit a few transformers. There are at least 10 surface parking lots (not parkades, or multilevel, just flat asphalt) I can think of in downtown right beside the railways tracks. with some of them taking up multiple city blocks. In fact the entire space between the railway and 9th ave is practically entirely dedicated to parking with very few buildings. There's also a power substation (enmax substation 5) right beside the tracks as well with enough room beside it for a second one. There is literally zero issue with electrification of the tracks. Knowing Alberta it's probably some excuse to keep burning oil, for some godforsakenly stupid reason (I live in Calgary).

[@DjThreesixty]

Banff is in desperate need of this service, with possible extention to Lake Louise. Currently if you want to go to there by train it costs over 1600$ Banff may be the most pedestrian friendly town in Alberta with great new public transit infrastructure but you can currently only get there by car or overpriced coach services. Winter driving and summer crowds make visiting a challenge while a train service would take away this stress and allow for massive daily flow of people , not cars into the park. Thanks for the video

[@EpicThe112]

Do you mean over the CPKC Kicking Horse Pass route 155 miles 250 kms

[@indigodino3897]

if it does happen and is affordable i will definitely use it as gas is so expensive and finding parking is difficult

[@matthewjames6587]

This is an amazing idea! Didn't know about the option for hydrogen trains but given the testing is being done in Charlevoix, maybe it could actually happen... Looking forward to seeing where this project goes. Bravo Alberta!

[@Vajamjam]

Great video! Very informative and glad you got around to covering this project. Probably the single project with the most inherent potential in all of western Canada. Would love to see your analysis on ION Cambridge too!

[@RailFansCanada]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@PatrickDoyle-gt9kd]

I think it’s better if the project became “Brightline Canada” and can connect from Banff, Alberta to Edmonton, Alberta.

[@stickynorth]

Any rail option is long overdue. Banff National Park is a traffic-choked nightmare most weekends especially with everyone heading to only a handful of sites over and over public transit really should be the dominant service in the area... And yes, this concept needs to be extended to Lake Louise ASAP as this is the locality where most of the traffic choke issues are being truly chronic.. They even had to stop allowing people to certain parks of the park this month because of over-crowding and congestion issues...

[@heymike7037]

I hope they don't end up with hydrogen trains, that would decision would make the line economically unviable. Hydrogen is not a "zero-emissions fuel" and ever will be. At best it's a crappy battery and at worst is pollutes more than just burning the methane from which the hydrogen is derived. No serious proposal would actually consider hydrogen as a viable option. They should just run conventional FLIRTs and talk to CP about electrifying the line. If there's a will there's a way. CP can run diesel under wire if it wants to but I don't see how there "isn't enough space" for electrification. That smells like BS to me. The fact they even mention hydrogen gives me serious doubts about this project ever happening.

[@richard-mtl]

This would be great, even if it didn't go to the airport.

[@RailFansCanada]

The connection to the airport is a nice addition as, currently, there is no real connection to YYC which takes 45 minutes right now. The proposed service would allow direct downtown connections in less than 15 minutes. It also plays an essential role in the business case for the project: while most of the capital costs will be on the Calgary-Banff segment, the most profitable one will likely the Airport-Downtown one. If such service allows for frequent and reliable service along the Calgary region, we are all for it! -David

[@richard-mtl]

@@RailFansCanada Oh for sure it's better with the airport connection! My point was that even if there wasn't that connection , a train up to Banff would be so nice, instead of going by car or bus.

[@RailFansCanada]

Oh yes! It would still be a great addition for the region!

[@TheRandCrews]

I’m guessing the Calgary downtown station is the train platforms underneath the Calgary tower

[@RailFansCanada]

We expect they would use those platforms as the Downtown station, yes. This makes any interconnection with the Blue or Red line 2 blocks away from the station.

[@Vajamjam]

A hypothetical Calgary - Edmonton HSR would need both terminal stations to be in their respective proper downtowns. Terminating at Calgary airport or Edmonton's current via station location would be much less valuable. The future in which YYC-Banff and Edmonton-Calgary HSR connect in downtown Calgary is the future Alberta desperately needs

[@TheRandCrews]

@@Vajamjamthere’s tracks used by Edmonton heritage streetcar right in front of the Legislature, with underneath Government Centre Station for both the Capital and Metro Line, perfect for it. Though the bridge would need to be replaced, cannot handle that much weight anymore and rusted parts

[@shivabalannagakumaran6019]

Are you going to cover the opening of the REM in Montreal in a future video because it's opening at the end of the month (July 2023). Thanks.

[@RailFansCanada]

We have a lot of content planned for the opening of the REM! We are really looking forward to share it along here on KZbin but also on our website, www.railfans.ca . -David