Could the Calgary-Banff Passenger Train Skip Canmore?

A future passenger train between Calgary and Banff could travel directly through Canmore without stopping, a possibility town council is now trying to prevent before the route moves further into planning.

Canmore council voted unanimously Tuesday (Sept. 1) to direct Mayor Sean Krausert to advocate for a local station as the Alberta government considers how to build its proposed passenger rail network.

The vote does not amount to an endorsement of the rail project itself, nor does it mean a Calgary-Banff train has received final approval. Instead, council agreed that if a train is going to pass through the Bow Valley, Canmore should not be left watching from the platform.

“It’s not our decision whether or not a passenger rail will run through our community,” Krausert told council during its Sept. 1 meeting. “However, it is a question that we need to ask ourselves: If it runs through our community, should there be a stop?”

“I think that the answer has to be unequivocally yes,” he said.

Alberta’s Passenger Rail Master Plan, released this spring, outlines a long-term network built around passenger rail connections between Edmonton, Calgary and Banff. The Calgary-Banff line currently identifies stations at Calgary International Airport, downtown Calgary, Cochrane and Banff.

Canmore and Mînî Thnî are not yet confirmed stops. Instead, the provincial plan says additional station locations, including those two communities, will be “selected and confirmed at the next stage of planning.”

That wording puts Canmore in an unusual position. The town cannot decide whether a train runs through the community, but it could still be excluded from the service it provides.

“The downside of it not stopping is huge,” Krausert said. “You’ll have potential customers going right through our community. You’ll have residents not being able to take advantage of the rail, whether it be a commute to downtown Calgary or going on a trip and going to the airport.”

The town argues that a station could also improve employee mobility, allowing people who live in Mînî Thnî, Cochrane or Calgary to commute to jobs in Canmore. It could give residents another way to reach Calgary and the airport, bring visitors into town without a vehicle and reduce traffic and greenhouse gas emissions.

“Any benefit that comes from getting people out of their vehicles will not be realized by us,” Krausert said of a train that did not stop.

But the council discussion also revealed how much about the proposed service remains unsettled.

Coun. Jeff Mah said a Canmore station would not only benefit the community, but could make the rail service itself more successful.

“When people come to the Bow Valley, they’re not just coming to Banff, per se,” Mah said. “They come to the entire region.”

Coun. Tanya Foubert supported the advocacy effort but cautioned that Canmore may still need to prepare for a future without a station. She noted that the technology ultimately selected for the line could influence where and how frequently trains stop.

“If it’s a high-speed, low-emission train, it might not stop in Canmore for that reason,” Foubert said. “We then also have to plan for the future for that.”

She said that outcome would not necessarily be disastrous, but it would change Canmore’s transportation needs. Her preferred future, she added, is one in which residents and visitors can board the train locally.

“The mobility and access for people into our community and the mobility and access for people within our community going out would be an incredible benefit,” Foubert said.

Coun. Wade Graham also sought to distinguish Tuesday’s motion from unconditional support for the larger rail proposal. He said previous discussions about passenger rail have sometimes been portrayed as proof that Canmore supports a train, even though its feasibility and local effects have not been fully established.

“If a train does run through here, we should have a stop here, absolutely,” Graham said. “But we’re clearly not there yet.”

Krausert responded that provincial planning has advanced far enough that Canmore should behave as though the project could proceed.

“In some ways, I think that question has already left the station,” he said. “The province has indicated that this line would be an essential part of a future network, and they’re funding the planning and design.”

“If you run a train through this valley, it should stop in Canmore.”

Canmore has considered the issue before. In 2021, council established a $100,000 capital project to study the best location for a passenger rail station and examine how the Calgary-Banff service could affect the town’s transportation network.

The study was never conducted. With no clear indication at the time that Alberta was advancing the project, council eventually cancelled it in 2023.

Krausert said the work could be revived if Canmore is selected as a stop, but only after the town has a clearer understanding of the proposed route and its responsibilities.

A station would likely carry costs for Canmore, including connections to the local transportation network and potentially ongoing maintenance and servicing. Council’s report says those costs cannot yet be calculated. It recommends that the town eventually pursue a memorandum of understanding spelling out which expenses would be covered by the province or rail operator and which would fall to the municipality.

For now, the motion carries no immediate financial cost. Its purpose is to ensure Canmore makes its case while station locations are still being considered.