First off, what a weird way to frame and title a debate thread for Alberta High Speed Rail, if that was the intent.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fozzie_DeBear
I don't understand why it has to be high speed?
I would think you could run into the problem that the BC ferries had...they were high speed but you could barely get them into a place to open up to full throttle.
Why couldn't you use the existing freight rail system and run them at medium speed?
Over the DT Calgary to DT Edmonton corridor I doubt it would make that big a difference in time..but in price it would be huge
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The Dayliner service ended in 1985, and no one has really missed it. Any passenger rail transportation in the Calgary-Edmonton corridor has to be time-competitive with the automobile and, to a degree, air travel.
The critical mass for high speed rail in Alberta isn't even close to being there. Maybe in 20 years, but probably closer to 50. There are 2 corridors in Canada where high speed rail will ever make sense. These are the Calgary-Edmonton corridor and the Quebec City-Windsor corridor. The central part of the latter (Toronto-Montreal) is the closest to being viable, but isn't there yet either.
Alberta would gain much much more in the next couple decades by investing in the intracity rail transit infrastructure in the 2 major cities, and smaller-scale initiatives in the smaller municipalities. That isn't to say that no thought should go into high speed rail, and indeed the current approach is probably best. Continue to strategically acquire land and reserve right of way. Land for stations in both downtown Calgary and downtown Edmonton has been purchased by the Province.