Building on What Can Work: Line 203 Phase I — 2017

Two light rail extension options have already been identified in this document, and although both extensions are technically and financially feasible and are functional and useful to Calgary’s C-Train passengers on the whole, they amount to the proverbial low-hanging fruit, being relatively simple and inexpensive additions to the C-Train network as it presently exists. There are two other light rail development projects that will need to be completed by 2017, two years prior to the commencement of revenue service on a built-out Line 201 and three years before revenue service on a built-out Line 202 begins, if the C-Train system is to accommodate the gains in system ridership arising both from the line extensions and from anticipated population growth. To relieve overloaded passenger traffic and tight C-Train headways on the Seventh Avenue Transit Corridor, it will become vital to the success of Calgary’s light rail system to divert Line 201 to the Stephen Avenue Metro, an underground connector built underneath Eighth Avenue. The other critical project will be the commissioning of the Eau Claire Metro, an underground connector built underneath Second Street SW and Tenth Avenue SW, as part of the activation of C-Train Line 203, travelling generally to the southeast from Calgary’s downtown core to residential and commercial areas east of Deerfoot Trail and south of 17 Avenue SE. This phase of C-Train system construction represents a substantial capital investment and involves technical issues peculiar to Calgary’s terrain, but the strategic benefits of this construction outweigh the risks to such an extent that the city is justified in completing this phase with all possible speed.

The concept of metro service through downtown Calgary dates back to 1967’s Calgary Transportation Study (City of Calgary, 1967:27), with service beneath Eighth Avenue SW being identified as a priority as early as 1970 (Simpson and Curtin et alia, 1970:4). Using the roughed-in City Hall Station as a starting point (City of Calgary, 1982:28-30), and bearing in mind the investigation already under way by the city, the Stephen Avenue Metro would continue west for approximately 200 metres to Museum Station, east of Centre Street, to serve the Glenbow Museum and adjacent hotels. From that point, the Stephen Avenue Metro would arrive after a distance of approximately 400 metres at Bankers’ Hall Station, serving adjacent retail and commercial developments and acting as the downtown core’s primary interchange station. At a distance of approximately 300 metres due west would be Fifth Street Station, also serving a number of adjacent retail and commercial developments. The final station on the Stephen Avenue Metro would be approximately 500 metres west at Century Garden Station, serving retail, commercial, and recreational uses between Seventh and Eighth Streets SW. After turning northward to parallel Ninth Street SW, the Stephen Avenue Metro would rejoin the existing surface light rail line at a portal near Sixth Avenue SW, travelling roughly 400 metres in the process (City of Calgary, 2007a:95). While Bankers’ Hall Station would, as noted, serve as the primary interchange station in the downtown core, all of the stations on the Stephen Avenue Metro would maintain connections to Line 202 platforms along the Seventh Avenue Transit Corridor.

The Eau Claire Metro was identified as a necessary condition for the completion of Line 203 of the C-Train, which in turn was defined in 1987 as vital to any concerted effort to offer mass transit to residents in southeast Calgary (Clifton ND Lea et alia, 2006:6). Starting from Eau Claire Station, beneath the intersection of Second Street and Riverfront Avenue SW, the Eau Claire Metro would continue for approximately 500 metres under Second Street SW to arrive at Central Station, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues SW and interchanging both with Bankers’ Hall Station on Line 201 and with Line 202 platforms along the Seventh Avenue Transit Corridor, before turning under the Canadian Pacific Railway to run below Tenth Avenue SW for a total of roughly 700 metres to arrive at Volunteer Way Station at the intersection with Centre Street, and then surfacing at First Street SE to travel for a total of approximately 700 metres to the at-grade Olympic Way Station, where Tenth Avenue intersects with Fourth Street SE (City of Calgary, 2007a:95). Line 203 would then cross the Elbow River and follow the CPR right of way for roughly 1,600 metres to Inglewood/Ramsay Station, at the intersection of 11 Avenue and 11 Street SE (Clifton ND Lea et alia, 2006:59), before continuing 1,200 metres to Crossroads Station, where 11 Avenue and 26 Street SE meet (2006:61), and another 1,200 metres thence to Highfield Station, at the intersection of Ogden Road and Highfield Boulevard SE (2006:63). This line would continue to run parallel to the CPR for an additional 2,200 metres to Lynnwood Station, at the intersection of Ogden Road and Millican Road SE (2006:65), and for a further 1,400 metres to Ogden Station, where Ogden Road meets 69 Avenue SE (2006:67), before crossing Glenmore Trail SE and continuing a further 1,800 metres to South Hill Station, at the intersection of Shepard Road and 85 Avenue SE (2006:69). At this point, Line 203 would diverge from the CPR right of way, continuing south parallel to 24 Street SE for approximately 1,700 metres to Quarry Park Station, as proposed by the developers of the Quarry Park commercial and residential subdivision (Remington Development Corporation, 2008), and from there roughly another 1,500 metres to Douglasdale Station, at the intersection of 29 Avenue and 114 Street SE. The list of destinations along this preliminary stretch of the Eau Claire Metro and Line 203 incorporates an eclectic mix of commercial, residential, and industrial properties.

The total capital investment required for the Stephen Avenue Metro, the Eau Claire Metro, and the first stage of Line 203 to Douglasdale comes to $1,964-million, a figure that could be carried over thirty years in instalments of $98-million from 2018 onward, or financed through an MSI-equivalent funding mechanism from 2012 to 2017 in six instalments of $328-million. The details of the necessary capital investment are identified as follows:

Stephen Avenue Metro: $233-million
plus five metro stations (City Hall, Museum, Bankers’ Hall, Fifth Street, Century Garden)
@ $92-million each: $460-million
Eau Claire Metro: $233-million
plus three metro stations (Eau Claire, Central, Volunteer Way)
@ $92-million each: $276-million
Southeast Surface Track and Way of 13.00 km
@ $25-million per km: $325-million
plus nine surface stations (Olympic Way, Inglewood/Ramsay, Crossroads, Highfield, Lynnwood, Ogden, South Hill, Quarry Park, Douglasdale)
@ $10-million each: $ 90-million
Ogden Yard: $200-million
Rolling Stock of 37 LRVs (Avanto)
@ $4-million each: $148-million

A number of operational benefits would come into play for the C-Train system on the successful completion of this construction phase. Line 203 alone would bring 55,000 daily revenue passengers to and from the Eau Claire Metro and the city centre in 2017, based on previous analyses of population growth and residency patterns in southeast Calgary (Clifton ND Lea et alia, 2006:56), and furthermore would provide a viable alternative to automobile travel for riders from elsewhere in the city with travel demand to commercial and industrial areas along the line. Even more importantly, perhaps, the availability of the Stephen Avenue Metro to Line 201 would allow both for a reduction in headway times both for Line 201 and 202 through the downtown core, and for an increase in the overall capacity of C-Trains using both lines, so that Line 201 could increase peak-hour passenger throughput from its current level of 7,255 passengers per hour per direction on three-car trains running at five-minute headways to an absolute maximum of 36,000 passengers per hour per direction on five-car trains running at two-minute headways (Calgary Transit, 2008c; Siemens Transportation Systems, 2005:1). These enhancements to the effectiveness of the C-Train system as a network would also afford opportunities for more reliable system-wide connectivity and enhanced passenger satisfaction with the service.

Works Cited

Calgary Transit (2008c). “LRT Technical Data”. URL as of 25 Mar 2008 http://www.calgarytransit.com/html/technical_information.html

City of Calgary (1967). Calgary Transportation Study, Volume 2. From City of Calgary Archives.

City of Calgary (1982). “City Hall Area Redevelopment Plan”. URL as of 25 Mar 2008 http://www.calgary.ca/docgallery/bu/planning/pdf/city_hall_arp.pdf

City of Calgary (2007a). “Centre City Plan”. URL as of 26 Mar 2008 http://www.calgary.ca/DocGallery/BU/planning/pdf/centre_city/centre_city_plan_one.pdf

Clifton ND Lea et alia (2006). “Southeast LRT Functional Planning Study, Phase III: Glenmore Trail to Elbow River”. URL as of 26 Mar 2008 http://www.calgarytransit.com/pdf/SE_LRT_Final_Report.pdf

Remington Development Corporation (2008). “Quarry Park: Site Access”. URL as of 25 Mar 2008 http://www.quarrypark.ca/site.html

Siemens Transportation Systems (2005). “SD160 Light Rail Vehicle, Calgary, Canada: Technical Information”. URL as of 02 Apr 2008 http://www.sts.siemens.com/DS/SD160%20Calgary%20DS.pdf

Simpson and Curtin et alia (1970). “Transit for Calgary’s Future: Engineering Analysis for 1978 Rapid Transit System”. From City of Calgary Archives.