CALGARY — The company leading the effort to develop rail passenger service between Calgary and Banff National Park says it needs support from Parks Canada to ensure the project can succeed without annual payments from the province of Alberta.
The CBC reports that Liricon Capital Inc., which owns a Banff ski resort and has a long-term lease on Banff’s railroad station, says it needs policies to encourage transit use by park visitors — “carrots and sticks,” in the words of Liricon managing partner Jan Waterous. Those could take the form of higher park entry fees for private vehicles and better shuttle bus service between park attractions.
Liricon submitted a proposal for the $1.5 billion Calgary-Banff passenger service late last year and asked the Alberta government to provide up to $30 million annually to help support the project [see “Calgary-Banff rail proposal sees price rise …,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 9, 2021]. But Waterous said a new ridership study suggests such payments might not be necessary, projecting the rail line could carry up to 11 million passengers per year by 2035.
The new ridership figures — five times higher than previous estimates — include discussions with tour operators to offer package deals for rai travelers and the potential integration with airline schedules from the Calgary airport. However, they also are based on the assumption Parks Canada will make policy changes that create incentives for visitors to use the rail line.
11 million riders per year by 2035? That is over 30,000 people per day. Banff would be consumed by that many people showing up. This needs a reality check.
It’s also 30 to 60 trains. Like CP Rail wants that? This whole thing is vaporware.
As for the airport connection, if it gets anywhere close to the terminal I’d be way more than surprised. Look for a long shuttle ride.
The one thing missing from what I have heard of the proponent’s plan is whether they have had any serious talks with CPR. They talk glibly about using the CPR r-o-w for a parallel second track but it may not be as easy or cheap as they seem to think.
This just makes so much sense, it is win win. We frequently travel to Banff and Lake Louise. To be able to take the train from the airport to one of Canada’s Crown Jewel in Parks. Good for the Environment, good for rail, good for Banff, Good all round!
I’m confused. Where in the article does it state that the train will go to the airport?
So let’s say I live in or near Winnipeg. I get to Winnipeg airport one way or the other. Fly to Calgary. Shutttle to wherever the train station is. Train to Banff station. Shuttle to hotel. Five seats for a one-way trip.
Five seats is do-able – I’ve done five seats myself, on countless occasions. I’ve even done seven seats many many times. Drive from home to remote parking, then shuttle van to airport terminal, then fly to Boston Logan, is three seats. At the Boston Logan end, MBTA shuttle bus, Blue Line, Green Line and Red line is four more. That’s seven seats for a one-way trip, and I thought nothing of it.
Five seats, however, is why some people do it in one seat —- their personal car.
There’s nothing in this article, but the CBC report linked and previous reports indicate the train will go directly to Calgary airport. If it actually goes to the terminal that would eliminate one of those seat changes. I haven’t found a website for the project itself with a map, though.