CALGARY | CTrain

[Woonsocket54]

Westbrook entrance

image hosted on flickr

Westbrook North Entrance i7597 by ferreth, on Flickr

[Woonsocket54]

Wesbtrook - Calgary's first underground rail station

image hosted on flickr

Westbrook Platfrom i7596 by ferreth, on Flickr

image hosted on flickr

Westbrook Platform i7594 by ferreth, on Flickr

[Riise]

Originally Posted by goten2255

also i think a communter rail network would benefit calgary more Light rail is great and awesome but it can be complmented with a communter rail network to reach areas further out to serve the other communties.

Originally Posted by goten2255

i always thought a communter rail system was needed???? its odd???

Originally Posted by goten2255

so Calgary is not as massive as those other cities i listed?

While Calgary is a large city that does suffer from a large amount of urban sprawl, there is one notable difference between it and many other North American cities; Calgary grew under the Unicity concept. Essentially, almost all of metropolitan Calgary is a single contiguous urban development within the City of Calgary. Our urban sprawl does not leap frog the city limits and occur in suburban towns and cities in the Greater Calgary area. Nevertheless, there are some towns in the hinterland that have become satellite towns.

These satellite towns are few in number but do manage to absorb and concentrate the urban development that occurs in the hinterland, which helps eliminate patchwork sprawl on the fringes of the city. Now, what does this mean for commuter rail?

The extreme majority of Calgary's workforce is located in Calgary so the City and Calgary Transit are focused on moving Calgarians around Calgary. They are in no rush in develop a commuter rail system that will help erode our tax base and require the use of the limited Provincial funding, which could be better spent on local projects that would benefit Calgarians.

Originally Posted by goten2255

but still this is a great light rail system will there be a streetcar system for the inner city transit while the light rail for outer city transit as well.

and i think Calgary light rail should connect to the airport so people can have a downtown to airport ride.

The former is something I'd like to see and hopefully RouteAhead will help deliver these types of projects. An airport spur off of the Blue Line is planned but as these types of lines do not generate as many trips as one would think, it is not high on the priority list.

[Falubaz]

Are there any plas to put underground the downtown part of the LRT?

[greg_christine]

It get's discussed from time to time. The city already has a starter tunnel that was built for the LRT but never used.

[Riise]

Originally Posted by Falubaz

Are there any plas to put underground the downtown part of the LRT?

Calgary Transit recently finished the first draft of RouteAhead, their long-term goals and plans in theory. It looks as though the 8th Avenue subway, which would move the blue line underground through the core, is fifth on the LRT priority list (i.e. red items below).

1. Begin the north and south stages of the green line.
2. Extend the red line south.
3. Extend the blue line north.
4. Create an airport spur line off of the blue line.
5. Realign the red line along an 8th Avenue Subway.

image hosted on flickr

Source: Metro News Calgary

[ssiguy2]

Talk about a city that does transit right!

[Nexis]

Now all they need is high speed rail to Edmonton and Vancouver...

[krnboy1009]

Edmonton maybe, Vancouver would be impossible.

[Riise]

Originally Posted by Nexis

Now all they need is high speed rail to Edmonton and Vancouver...

Unfortunately, both Calgary and Edmonton's intra-city public transportation networks are not sufficiently developed to the point where they could handle such inter-city links. RouteAhead will do a lot to help Calgary reach that point, hopefully the Provincial and Federal government will both help and enable the City to realize this plan.

Originally Posted by krnboy1009

Edmonton maybe, Vancouver would be impossible.

Oddly enough, I think an HS link to Vancouver would have a much larger impact. The cities are actually pretty close but the mountains are such a massive barrier. If they could ever afford to punch/bore a straightish line through the Rockies, I think trade could flourish.