Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Renewed passenger rail service between Banff and Calgary?

Bleeding Red · 07-26-2018, 10:53 AM

As part of the question about trip cost (and overall building the thing) one should ask - WHO is this primarily for?

In TO they though the airport rail link would be primarily for business travelers/tourists and priced based on similar lines - London / Rome/ Paris - at $25 a ride (IIRC) - which was about $10 less than a cab ride. Next to no one used it. They added 2 stops, lowered the price to $13 and now have reasonable (but still low) local ridership. (Now, TO also has a "downtown" airport which means that the majority of business travelers from MTL, OTT, & NYC (the bulk of the business travel group) have no need to use the airport link.)

If the line is just between downtown and YYC and mainly for the business traveler, it won't matter how much a ticket is, it will be money down the drain.

If the Banff -> downtown line is mainly for residents, then it can't go much higher than $40 return, and it will still be money down the drain. Most residents, knowing what a pain Banff transit is, and haveing the opportunity to buy a season's pass to the park, will simply drive.

I think the full line - YYC - Downtown - Banff - has to be tourist / convention goer centric. Right now it costs the tourist about $500 to get from YYC to Banff and back - car rental, park permit, gas, parking - not to mention the time it takes - 30 min to get the car and 2 hours to get to Banff (drivers unfamiliar with the area tend to take longer).

A rail line can cut that cost by a huge margin. I think many tourists will pay $100 return ($160 for a "first class" return) ticket. That's where the money will be. I agree that rail is how the rest of the world expects to travel once they reach a destination. Car rental is a very NA thing.

Want to increase ridership, fine, offer residents multi ride passes or season's passes at a reduced rate.

I think this shouldn't be about "will Calgarians take the $15 train for a ski day?" but "how can we get more tourist/convention dollars into the area?"

07-26-2018, 10:53 AM	#161
Bleeding Red Powerplay Quarterback Join Date: Oct 2001 Exp:	As part of the question about trip cost (and overall building the thing) one should ask - WHO is this primarily for? In TO they though the airport rail link would be primarily for business travelers/tourists and priced based on similar lines - London / Rome/ Paris - at $25 a ride (IIRC) - which was about $10 less than a cab ride. Next to no one used it. They added 2 stops, lowered the price to $13 and now have reasonable (but still low) local ridership. (Now, TO also has a "downtown" airport which means that the majority of business travelers from MTL, OTT, & NYC (the bulk of the business travel group) have no need to use the airport link.) If the line is just between downtown and YYC and mainly for the business traveler, it won't matter how much a ticket is, it will be money down the drain. If the Banff -> downtown line is mainly for residents, then it can't go much higher than $40 return, and it will still be money down the drain. Most residents, knowing what a pain Banff transit is, and haveing the opportunity to buy a season's pass to the park, will simply drive. I think the full line - YYC - Downtown - Banff - has to be tourist / convention goer centric. Right now it costs the tourist about $500 to get from YYC to Banff and back - car rental, park permit, gas, parking - not to mention the time it takes - 30 min to get the car and 2 hours to get to Banff (drivers unfamiliar with the area tend to take longer). A rail line can cut that cost by a huge margin. I think many tourists will pay $100 return ($160 for a "first class" return) ticket. That's where the money will be. I agree that rail is how the rest of the world expects to travel once they reach a destination. Car rental is a very NA thing. Want to increase ridership, fine, offer residents multi ride passes or season's passes at a reduced rate. I think this shouldn't be about "will Calgarians take the $15 train for a ski day?" but "how can we get more tourist/convention dollars into the area?"