From 1885 — when the North Western Coal and Navigation Company built the first passenger railway to Lethbridge — until 1971, trains were a viable mode of transportation for southern Albertans.
“There was really very few places you couldn’t connect on the railway and communities lived or died if they had a railway there, so it was amazing how they crisscrossed the community,” Lethbridge Historical Society president Belinda Crowson said.
“When you talk to people who remember using it, they loved it. They loved the Dayliner, the ones you could take to Calgary or connect to other communities.”
Now one group wants to make that a possibility once again.
Alberta Regional Rail Inc. is proposing a passenger line, starting with a track between Calgary and Edmonton, before eventually expanding to communities across the province.
“Ultimately linking all the northwest, northeast, southwest and southeast regions of Alberta into the main core of what we’re working on,” director of global sourcing Vern Raincock said.
“We’re late to the table, you might say. Already, there are similar projects that have been in place for decades in Canada. A good example would be the GO Train in the Toronto region, as well as the West Coast Express. Their ridership has always been strong, even during COVID.”
It’s an idea that’s also being explored south of the border.
In 2020, the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority was formed in Montana in an attempt to bring back the North Coast Hiawatha line, which would connect the southern part of the state to Seattle and Chicago.
Chairman Dave Strohmaier says the group has made huge strides in the past year and has had informal talks with Alberta Regional Rail about the process.
“Not simply recreating and restoring what once was, as important as that is, but also thinking about what might be in the future and for us that means looking at the viability of cross-national passenger rail service,” Strohmaier said.
Alberta Regional Rail officials say improving accessibility between municipalities would also help local businesses.
“Without a mobility solution like ours, it would be very difficult for people to justify — just to hop into a car just to go 10 miles to pickup something from a farmers market in another community,” Raincock said.
If funding and a passenger rail authority can be established, officials hope to get a train on the track by 2030.
“Our ultimate goal is to probably do a demonstration within three years (of funding being secured), and then hopefully within five years, start limited service,” Raincock said.
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