Banff passenger rail project still working on provincial and environmental support
An ambitious proposal to bring daily rail service between Calgary and Banff is waiting on provincial dollars to secure the next step in making it a reality.
The company behind the project - Liricon Capital - says it's looking for roughly $10 million from the province in the near future to go along with $750 million already committed by the company and Canada Infrastructure Bank for building the line.
Jan Waterous of Liricon Capital said her company has already put up roughly $105 million and is waiting on the province to commit. But as recently as Monday, Premier Jason Kenney said that he's concerned about the cost to taxpayers.
"So far, we have not seen an economic case," Kenney said. "We are not prepared to write an unlimited cheque."
"We are always prepared to make strategic investments in capital infrastructure," Kenney continued. "But we don't think the government of Alberta's core business is to provide massive decade-long subsidies to operations of what is ultimately a private business."
But Waterous - who is a part owner of the project - says the comments misrepresent what her group is proposing.
"If this train costs more than the $1.5 billion that the government studies have said it will cost, that is on Liricon," Waterous said. "With no risk to the province, zero risk to the province.”
She said that the commonly used figure of $30 million a year for 50 years doesn't take into account a cost sharing plan that would reduce the province's burden if the service attracts enough passengers.
"We can move that down considerably and possibly to zero if we had other incentives to increase ridership,” Waterous said.
The premier has also had vocal praise for the plan - touting its promise of significantly reducing traffic on the Trans Canada Highway, reducing emissions and potentially easing Banff's staff accommodation and occasional labour issues.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS
But prominent environmental groups say they have their concerns about the potential for increased visitors and for wildlife such as grizzly bears and elk to be hit by trains or unable to move freely across the busy valley.
The potential doubling of trains within the region is only going to exponentially increase the impact on wildlife if connectivity is not addressed," says Josh Welsh, with Y2Y. "If underpasses, overpasses and fencing are not provided."
Linear disturbances such as roads, rail lines or power lines all have differing degrees of impact on many wildlife species, particularly grizzly bears.
The bears often cover huge distances pursuing food or mates, and transportation corridors are a significant cause of death for the provincially threatened species.
Waterous said her group is looking at safety and mitigation measures, but cautions much of that work comes later in the planning and engineering phases.
"The overriding intention here is to make it a lot better than it is now," Waterous says. "To put in mitigations that will ensure that wildlife is in fact protected more so than it is now."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
What Canadians think of the latest Liberal budget
A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, though there is broad support for their plan to build millions of homes.
opinion Why you should protect your investments by naming a trusted contact person
Appointing a trusted person to help with financial obligations can give you peace of mind. In his personal finance column for CTVNews.ca, Christopher Liew outlines the key benefits of naming a confidant to take over your financial responsibilities, if the need ever arises.
Teacher shortages see some Ontario high school students awarded perfect grades on midterm exams
Students at a high school in York Region have been awarded perfect marks on their midterm exams in three subjects – not because of their academic performances however, but because they had no teacher.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Ottawa injects another $36M into vaccine injury compensation fund
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
An Ontario senior thought he called Geek Squad for help with his printer. Instead, he got scammed out of $25,000
An Ontario senior’s attempt to get technical help online led him into a spoofing scam where he lost $25,000. Now, he’s sharing his story to warn others.
Her fiance has been in prison for 49 years. She's trying to free him before it's too late
Christine Roess is a retired consultant. Ezra Bozeman has spent the last 49 years in prison, serving a life sentence for a murder he says he didn’t commit. Against the odds, the two fell in love.