CALGARY – One month ahead of the scheduled December launch, Calgary Transit officially started four-car CTrain service Friday.
Two of the longer trains have been running for a three-week training period; they will now continue to run on the 201 Red Line (Tuscany-Somerset).
Mayor Naheed Nenshi was behind the gears of one of the first four-car trains. He claims, “this is the largest increase to the CTrain network since the West LRT and some would argue even bigger than that.”
The CTrain is the backbone of Calgary’s transit system. It carries some 325,000 people everyday.
“In the winter and stuff when everybody wants to take transit instead of driving, they get really packed up,” said rider John Carter, who commutes to school by CTrain.
The additional car will increase transit capacity by 33 per cent compared to the three-car trains, with 200 more customers per trip—totaling 800 passengers per ride.
Calgary Transit is planning to expand four-car train service further in January and throughout the new year, with 63 new cars on order for $3.2 million each. The new design, voted on by Calgarians in 2013, is called the “Mask” and was inspired by a goalie mask.
28 of the older U2 models will be phased out over the next two years as the new cars arrive. Some of those trains have been in service since 34 years.
“Some of them have as much as 2.8 million miles on them so they’ve been around the world a few times,” said Doug Morgan, Director of Calgary Transit.
Calgary Transit hailed the 192 CTrains in the city as the “most successful light rail transit system (LRT) in North America” and the only LRT system on the continent to “operate on wind-generated electricity making it emissions free and easier on the environment.”
The city has been preparing for four-car service with work including the extension of platforms at all 45 stations in the city, the addition of heated shelters for commuters, and adjustments to the signal system.
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