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By Alessia Proietti

Further research needed for project

Blackfalds council approves letter of support to Alberta Regional Rail

Jan 12, 2022 | 4:32 PM

Council for the Town of Blackfalds approved a motion Tuesday to sign a Letter of Support for the Alberta Regional Rail, a passenger rail service that would run across central Alberta with an express line in the Calgary – Edmonton corridor.

Using predominately existing rails and partially run on electrical power, the train system is expected to have between 23 and 26 stops within the corridor. Other routes would include stops in various cities and towns across central Alberta, from Lake Louise to High River, linking airports and Local Transit.

The idea was brought to town council in December 2021 in a 50 minute presentation. Blackfalds is considered a potential stop on the line.

Having all agreed to the letter of support for the project, councillors expressed various opinions on the matter.

While curious to learn more, Councillor Marina Appel doubted the success of a train system in Alberta and how it would integrate with the structure of towns.

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“Our infrastructure is not set up the same way it is in Europe. We are, and especially here in central Alberta, we’re just not set up for rail. It’s just not something that people are used to,” she said.

While later changing her stance, Councillor Rebecca Stendie initially voted against the letter of support as there were no concrete numbers relating to the costs of the project and unclear direction of who would assume those costs.

“At a million dollars a bridge and at least two bridges required, that is quite a considerable cost for our municipality,,” she said.

On the other hand, Councillor Laura Svab stated her focus remained with discovering the public’s opinion and if there is a demand amongst the community.

“Anything after this, I would love to have surveys done and discussions with our community and find out where we actually should be in this because I absolutely have no idea what our residents want,” she said.

In the middle, Mayor Jamie Hoover shared similar concerns with councillors but believes the system may be the future of transportation.

“We won’t even have answers to those questions unless enough support is garnished for this that they can do the research,” he said.

“I certainly would not be in favor if this was multiple millions of dollars to the community unless there’s a massive benefit to the community.”

The Alberta Regional Rail states the Calgary – Edmonton corridor is the most urbanized area in Alberta, and one of the busiest in Canada. In 2019, 31,510 vehicles traveled from Calgary to Red Deer and 27,940 from Edmonton to Red Deer, a 53 and 39 per cent increase from 2005 respectively.

They say the benefits of the project would impact the economy by creating jobs, increasing tourism, provide affordable transit for workers living in nearby towns, and be sustainable for the environment.

The goal of the mission is to bring back a train system similar to the “Budd Dayliner”, introduced in 1955 running from Calgary and Edmonton in a three and a half hour ride.

Council clarified the wording of the motion to explicitly state the letter was supporting the furthering of the project’s research in principle with no financial commitment on the town’s part.