Alberta Considers New Commuter Rail Line Between Calgary and Edmonton

An aerial view of the Calgary International Airport, Canada’s fourth busiest, which is undergoing an expansion to accommodate a spike in passenger volume over the past decade. (Courtesy of Calgary Airport Authority)

Alberta’s new Minister of Transportation and Economic Corridors David Dreeshen will be considering a provincially-operated commuter rail service between Calgary and Edmonton.

In a mandate letter issued July 11, Premier Danielle Smith said Mr. Dreeshen should examine the feasibility of creating a commuter rail service using the heavy rail tracks on the Canadian Pacific Rail line, similar to Ontario’s Metrolinx.

Metrolinx is a Crown Corporation owned by the provincial government that operates regional transit in the Toronto area, including GO Transit, a commuter rail and bus network that runs between the city and surrounding regions. The Union Pearson Express, which runs from downtown Toronto to Toronto Pearson Airport, is also operated by Metrolinx.

“Part of the feasibility study should include the use of hydrogen-powered trains,” said the premier’s mandate letter, stating that the long-term plan should be to create a commuter train from Airdrie to Okotoks, and from the Edmonton International Airport to downtown Edmonton, with an intention to expand the service as the province grows.

“With Edmonton and Calgary, I think it’s important that our airports are connected to our downtown core,” said Mr. Dreeshen. He said that when Vancouver had a connection between its downtown core and the airport, it boosted tourism and made it easier for B.C. residents to commute.

“Being able to ensure people can get to and from the airport is something that we want to be able to work in both Edmonton and Calgary to try to make that just a little bit easier in people’s daily commutes,” Dreeshen said.

“Being able to move from downtown and anywhere along the LRT line to make sure you can get to the Edmonton International Airport, it makes life a lot easier and a lot better here in the province.”

If the funding is available and the plan is economically feasible, it would take at least three years for construction to begin. On July 10, the province said it would invest $3 million toward a study on connecting Calgary’s downtown core to the airport on the northeast edge of the city.

Partner With Industry

The premier also mandated that the minister explore “cost-sharing arrangements with the private sector and/or municipalities that support economic investment in Alberta’s transportation network, including public transit, heavy rail and bridge infrastructure that better connects the Calgary and Edmonton airports to their downtowns, regional communities to Calgary and Edmonton, and Calgary to the province’s Rocky Mountains parks system.”

The premier said this “must initially include completing the Blue Line link to the Calgary airport,” in addition to facilitating the growth of the province’s airports to help Albertans continue to “connect themselves and their goods to major international airports and increase Alberta’s economic competitiveness.”

“As Calgary continues to grow, it’s vital to have a road map to build out a transit network that increases capacity and supports transportation needs now and into the future,” Mr. Dreeshen said in a statement.

“This project is an important step forward in providing direction on affordable transit infrastructure that will best serve Calgary while respecting taxpayer investment.”

In November 2022, Ms. Smith told Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek that the province would consider assisting with an extension of the city’s light rail transit line to the airport, and possibly even to Banff.

In January 2022, Alberta Regional Rail suggested that Alberta could partner with the company to resurrect the Dayliner, a commuter train between Calgary and Edmonton that would stop at small communities along Highway 2.

The Dayliner was formerly a rail service operated by Canadian Pacific Railway (CP), which ran trains between Edmonton and Calgary from 1955 to 1985.

A similar proposal was suggested to run between the Calgary International Airport to Banff, which was projected to carry up to 2 million passengers annually and cost $1.5 billion.

Another developer, TransPod, proposed a high-speed hyperloop, a $22.4 billion express train that would go between the two major cities in about two hours.

To date, none of the proposals have been successful.