Banff Alberta - Proponents of a passenger rail service between the Calgary Airport and Banff (CABR) say eight years of work will go down the drain if the province doesn't advance a project development agreement by this fall.
 
Jan Waterous, managing director of Liricon, says the province's signature is required to ensure vital funding from the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) stays intact.
 
The CIB has committed to contributing half of the estimated $2.6 billion development cost of the rail line, which aims to provide the first regular passenger service between Calgary and Banff since 1990.
 
The other half will come from private investors.
 

An artist's conception image Banff station - Date? Artist? - Liricon.

"We are hoping that they will agree with that so that we can begin our work and ensure the CIB funding is in place. As I said, no CIB funding, no CABR, and that would be a tragic outcome given all of the work and the opportunity for all of the municipalities along the way to not only enjoy the train, but have its impact on their communities in terms of their economies and labor mobility," says Waterous.
 
Cochrane and Mini Thni are among the seven stops proposed for passenger service.
 
While the government has expressed keen interest in the project, it wants to first complete a passenger rail master plan before reaching decisions on any of the proposed passenger rail services in the province.
 
"We think that's a great idea, but we have one glaring concern. We have a clock that is ticking on our end, and we need to get the thumbs up from the province to proceed, and do more design work by the fall of 2024 because we need to secure the Canada Infrastructure Bank funding to have our project move forward," says Waterous.
 
She believes there's a strong possibility that the Conservatives will form the next federal government, and if so, have promised to dismantle the CIB.
 
"The good news is we don't have to have spent all that money by the time that decision is made."
 
She says entering into this agreement does not commit the province to advancing the project further.
 
While passionate about the project, Premier Danielle Smith says, first things first.
 
"I understand the frustration, but look, we had a number of different proposals come forward. We had proposals come forward for lines between Calgary and Banff, for lines between Edmonton and Calgary, and all of it has to come together in a big Union Station in downtown. The only entity that's capable of negotiating that is us, the provincial government because it's a big-ticket item. We have to negotiate with CP, we have to make sure it integrates with the city, and so we want to make sure that it's done right so that everybody gets the best value out of it."
 
Still, the premier is enthusiastic about its potential.
 
She's taken several meetings on the proposal, and it wasn't that long ago that she visited the Stoney Nakoda Nation to discuss the idea with their three chiefs.
 
"It would be amazing. I think that the biggest thing we have to get is the connection to the airport. So that's going to be really important because for somebody to be able to fly into Calgary International Airport and have that seamless experience, whether it's what they want to stay in Calgary for a few days, and then hop on a train and come out to whether it's Cochrane, whether it's going to the resort at Stoney Nakoda, or whether it's going on to the mountains, I think it would be an incredible experience and a way to take a lot of pressure off the roads as well. That's been one of the most popular routes ever since I was a kid. It was always Cochrane for McKay's Ice Cream and then on to the candy store in Banff, and I think everybody wants to be able to have that same experience."
 
In related news, the approval of the redevelopment plan for the Banff Railway Lands by Banff town council on 24 Jun 2024 is seen as a pivotal moment by Liricon.
 
It is to be reviewed by Parks Canada, which will inform recommendations to Steven Guilbeault, federal minister of Environment and Climate Change.
 
Should it be approved, Waterous says they would then be able to apply for development permits for the lands that will include some structures.
 
"It's a process that has been near and dear to my family's heart for eight years. We have worked hard to develop a plan with the Town of Banff. They were our co-proponents of the ARP to create a really important multi-modal transportation and community hub for the residents at the rail lands," she says.
 
Waterous says her family has been in Banff for 27 years, and like many residents, were concerned with the volume of personal vehicles and traffic within the park.
 
It's been official town policy to develop intercept parking since 1979.
 
"We saw so many great ideas put forth by others all the years we lived in Banff to help manage congestion, yet few of any scale had come to fruition," she says.
 
"Not a single intercept lot had been built until my family built a lot in 2019 adjacent to train station that they make available for free for visitors to Banff."
 
In June 2020, CIB and Alberta Transportation announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to complete studies and due diligence for the Calgary-Banff Rail project.
 
Author unknown.