Calgary's CTrain

[ssiguy2]

For those of you who don't know a lot about the great Calgary LRT system, here is a great non-government thread I found.
www.members.shaw.ca/lrtincalgary/

[Mock]

Gah, I'm totally jealous of the C-Train. I love how it blends into the streetscape so well Downtown. Edmonton needs to get up speed here...

[Boris550]

^ Be glad that your downtown section is buried already...

EDIT: Take note everyone that the city got that whole downtown-anderson section done in 3 years! Now, if they could just hurry up and build a damned airport line!

[Mock]

The underground is alright, but the stairs leading down become havens for the homeless after hours.
Calgary's speed is amazing, I remember visiting Calgary Zoo a few years ago and all they had were the Red Line and the Blue Line. I blame Edmonton's slowness mostly on the NIMBYs, they seem to be much more vocal here than in cowtown...or maybe your council just ignores them?

[Boris550]

^ Yeah, I think that City Council usually just shoves them aside...especially since we got Bronco, hehe

...that and because C-Train is insane popular now. Everybody wants it...

[josh white]

Originally Posted by ssiguy2

For those of you who don't know a lot about the great Calgary LRT system, here is a great non-government thread I found.
www.members.shaw.ca/lrtincalgary/

The guy who made this posts on Skyscraperpage.com

It is a great website.

[samsonyuen]

It's strange how much quicker the C-Train grew compared to its near identical sized sister to the North's LRT. Which system becan first, and was it more provincial or municipal politics that played a role in that? Can anyone provide a step-by-step account of LRT lengths and extensions?

[Mock]

Here's a map detailing Edmonton's:

http://www.barp.ca/bus/lrt/edmonton/map.html

[ssiguy2]

^Thanks for the map.

The problem with EdmontonLRT is that first, they decided to go NW first. A slower growth area with lower density. Then the city council was stupid enough not to focus growth there. They also spent a fortune on the underground in downtown. Sure nice for winter but it drained the system and couldn't then afford to extend the system.
Calgary didn't go the underground downtown and instead made the CTrain far more extensive. The result???........CTrain has 5times the ridership of the EdmontonLRT.

[Roch5220]

Ctrain is a great system for a metro of 1 million. Too bad some of the extensions are being pushed back to 2023.

Any news on the talk of HSR betweent Edmonton and Calgary? Would be great if it went downtown to downtown, with connections to both LRT networks.

[coldrsx]

i love the c-train....but i think having the LRT underground DOWNTOWN will pay dividends in the next few years when calgary will have to ante up huge $$$ to do the same. Edmonton meanwhile will take a similar amount and finish the SLRT and work on the WLRT to WEM.

the one thing to remember is that Edmonton has many more centres of employment scattered throughout the city where as calgary is downtown focussed. This makes mass transit more viable and more accessible.

either way, im happy to see both cities really expanding and investing in mass transit.

[josh white]

Originally Posted by samsonyuen

It's strange how much quicker the C-Train grew compared to its near identical sized sister to the North's LRT. Which system becan first, and was it more provincial or municipal politics that played a role in that? Can anyone provide a step-by-step account of LRT lengths and extensions?

If you go into this website posted above: www.members.shaw.ca/lrtincalgary/
and click on the "extensions map" section, it gives an account of all the extension phases in the LRT's history.

The Future Map section is also very cool. It shows roughly what the systems will look like at build out. It will be quite a huge system with over 100km of track, over 70 stations, and likely over 500 000 passengers per day, at a city population of about 1.3-1.5 million.

[josh white]

Originally Posted by coldrsx

i love the c-train....but i think having the LRT underground DOWNTOWN will pay dividends in the next few years when calgary will have to ante up huge $$$ to do the same. Edmonton meanwhile will take a similar amount and finish the SLRT and work on the WLRT to WEM.

the one thing to remember is that Edmonton has many more centres of employment scattered throughout the city where as calgary is downtown focussed. This makes mass transit more viable and more accessible.

either way, im happy to see both cities really expanding and investing in mass transit.

It will pay dividends evetually. You are right. But I don't know if Calgary will ever bury the current lines through downtown. The SE line however will be buried and will come up 10th ave, then make a turn underground onto 2nd street, and eventually terminate in Eau Claire. The West line (which will likely be the next line) will just be an extension past the City Centre terminus at 10th street West, go through the current site of the science centre and up bow trail. That line will not add any bottle-neck to the 7th ave line. But any SE or North line would have to go elsewhere.

[ssiguy2]

I understand that the extention dates have actually been moved up. The NW & NE extentions are to be completed by 2009 and the WEST line to be completed by 2013. All due to the fact that the province have Calgary $200,000,000 ayear for infastructure. This is on top of the sizable amount the city gets for regular provincial transfers which are pretty generous.

[krazycanuck]

the original plan for the C-train was to have it go underground through downtown. The plan was abandoned due to how much it would cost primarily because Calgary's downtown sits on a flood plain. Edmonton avoided this problem since their core sits above the river valley. But much of the infrastructure for a downtown underground LRT line is in place. The line was to run under 8th ave. stations are currently built under city hall as well bankers hall, the plans for the Penny Lane towers also include an underground LRT station to be included. You can also witness at the North end of the tunnel leaving downtown to Somerset-Bridlewood there is still a turn off where the train would enter the future underground line.

[whitefordj]

I love the c-train. when im in calgary i make sure to ride it just for fun. It is so nice to swoosh along in that thing, past the zoo, over the bridge, and through the towers. It is a great system that will only get better.

[matthewcs]

I used to live right by Whitehorn. The Stations stick out like sore thumbs, but the system is fantastic. you can get some really good panoramas riding it along too.

[samsonyuen]

Does it seem likely that they'll tunnel underground? You mean there are already stations existing under City Hall and Bankers' Hall? What are they being used for now?

[cmd uw]

Originally Posted by Mock

The underground is alright, but the stairs leading down become havens for the homeless after hours.
Calgary's speed is amazing, I remember visiting Calgary Zoo a few years ago and all they had were the Red Line and the Blue Line. I blame Edmonton's slowness mostly on the NIMBYs, they seem to be much more vocal here than in cowtown...or maybe your council just ignores them?

/\ I ride the LRT on a consistent basis and have yet to bump into a homeless person 'loitering' in the corridors. I mean, yes, they exist, but it's no different than what I've experienced in other major cities.

Edmonton's LRT expansion has little to do with NIMBY'ism and more to do with politics and the lack of support to take on debt to finance expansion.

[cmd uw]

Originally Posted by ssiguy2

^Thanks for the map.

The problem with EdmontonLRT is that first, they decided to go NW first. A slower growth area with lower density. Then the city council was stupid enough not to focus growth there. They also spent a fortune on the underground in downtown. Sure nice for winter but it drained the system and couldn't then afford to extend the system.
Calgary didn't go the underground downtown and instead made the CTrain far more extensive. The result???........CTrain has 5times the ridership of the EdmontonLRT.

/\ At the time, NE Edmonton was one of the fastest growing areas of the city. Then came 1981 and all of those forecasts / projections went out the window.

Also, the Province paid for the majority of the cost to put the LRT underground via grants that no longer exist today.

The City was just scared to spend the money ($100 million and more) to pull the LRT from University, as budgets were scarce and Council was not interested in financing major infrastructure.