Collaboration will be key in realizing a future rail line to the airport, especially when there are multiple competing rail projects, said a Calgary city councillor.
Calgary city councillors received a briefing note with preliminary results of an updated study on options for an airport rail link, first launched in 2023.
The briefing note, which was attached to the agenda for the Jan. 8 Infrastructure and Planning Committee meeting but not discussed in council chambers, provided an overview of key outcomes, and a preferred option for the rail link.
“The Calgary Airport Rail Connection Study builds on the foundation established by the 2020 Airport Transit Line Study, which highlighted the importance of linking the Calgary International Airport with The City’s Blue and Green LRT lines,” read the briefing note.
“This work aligns with RouteAhead’s vision for an integrated transportation network.”
The preliminary findings build on the 2020 Airport Transit Line Study, confirming the ideal route as an east-west alignment linking northeast and northeast Calgary communities. That’s where 60 per cent of the demand for airport service is located, according to the briefing note.
It’s also outfitted to include a potential downtown-to-airport link, and incorporation into a larger north-south regional rail system. The components can also be developed in phases, providing flexibility in funding from other orders of government.
In 2022, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith wrote to Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek expressing her desire to see an LRT link to the Calgary International Airport.
“As YYC continues to increase in size and economic importance, the number of domestic and international flights and passenger traffic to and through the airport will also continue to grow,” the Premier said at the time.
“In my view, a direct link between YYC and downtown via the CTrain network should be a transportation priority for both of our governments.”
Only so much space to fit competing rail priorities for airport rail link
Ward 3 Coun. Jasmine Mian, who was the chair for the IPC meeting on Wednesday, spoke to reporters saying it was important that all orders of government work together.
“There’s many competing rail priorities. There’s a regional rail, there’s the Blue Line Extension, there’s the airport connector, and there’s only so much space,” Mian said.
“I think as the airport they’re not going to want to have all of these different lines coming in, if we can collaborate and work together. I think that there’s good intention to do that, and it really is going to come down to which of these rail projects get funding and how that proceeds.”
Mian said a connection to the airport is an important one for Calgarians, and work has already begun with the Blue Line extension. That would extend the Blue Line to 88 Avenue (roughly one kilometre of track) and be the launching point for the unfunded ($675 million) Airport Transit Connector.
The reality is, that not all of the transit projects on the table will get funding in the near term, Mian said. It’s good to know, however, that they can accommodate all options she added.
“Ultimately, I think what we have to have first is a political priority, and will, on which of these projects are going to go forward. Ideally, you want to do all of them. I personally don’t think that we’re going to be able to do all of them,” she said.
“It’s good to know that we could accommodate everything. But really, it’s going to come down to which of these projects can get the funding… and have the regulatory approvals to move ahead.”
The final report is expected in Q1 2025 and shared with the Government of Alberta, the briefing note read. The report will help inform the province’s Passenger Rail Master Plan.
