Alberta's Ambitious Passenger Rail Master Plan
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
188.38701
Summary
Learn English with Alberta s Minister of Tourism and Sport, Joseph Skow. Minister Joe Skow speaks about the need for a passenger rail link between Calgary and Edmonton, and the potential for a high-speed passenger line between those two major centres.
Transcript
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I'm happy to announce that Alberta's government is moving forward with a passenger rail master plan
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to prepare the ground for such a system and connect Albertans better than ever before.
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Rail system networks are a reliable fact of life in eastern Canada and the United States
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and all across Europe, moving people easily, quickly and safely around their busiest municipal
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hubs. And yet here in Alberta, we've been behind for decades. Edmonton and Calgary have been
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building out and growing their municipal LRT systems, which enable residents to move easily
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to get across town. But there's still gaps that exist. And that biggest gap is that neither city
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has a line to connect residents and tourists to either the Calgary or Edmonton international
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airports from the downtown. That's why budget 2024 includes funding for an airport connector to
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Calgary. But just looking at commuter rail within our biggest cities is too small a vision for us.
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We want to connect more than just neighbourhoods. We have a bigger, bolder vision. We want to build
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stronger connections along Alberta's busiest corridor and to Alberta's top tourist destination.
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I mentioned the lack of rail connections to Alberta's two primary airports from the downtown
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core, but we're looking into more than that. We don't want to leave those in surrounding communities
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on the outside of these mobility solutions. Consider Calgary, where many hardworking Albertans
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commute daily from nearby communities like Airdrie and Okotoks. Anyone who makes that daily commute
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or is traveling at the same time as the hundreds making that commute know that resulting traffic jams
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and backlogs only serve to add more stress to a day before it has even begun. And that doesn't need to
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be the case. We see the value in a commuter passenger line that connects folks in those communities
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to the Calgary airport and then on to the downtown core, in the case of Airdrie, for a more streamlined
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and relaxed commute. And we believe that a solution like that will also work in Edmonton and the entire
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capital region. That is the starting point. But we also want to open up direct access to our breathtaking
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and adventure rich national parks. We are a growing visitor economy. And as our Minister of Tourism and
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Sport, Joseph Skow, has mentioned a lot recently, our tourism industry has more than recovered from the
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pandemic. Tourism spending is significantly higher than it was in 2019. But again, we have a vision for
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an even stronger, bigger tourism industry. And our efforts to grow the visitor economy in our province will
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be helped by developing a passenger rail line from Calgary to the heart of our national parks.
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We know that passenger rail lines through the mountains are very popular and provide passengers
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with views and experiences they cannot duplicate in a car or truck or bus or plane. But right now,
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those experiences end in Banff and Jasper without regular and simple connections to our major cities.
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There's an opportunity here that we would be foolish to disregard. Another opportunity should not be
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cast aside is that of a high-speed passenger rail line connecting Edmonton and Calgary with a stopover
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in the midpoint in Red Deer. Passenger rail between these three cities offers more opportunity not
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just for visitors to our province and those looking to visit family and friends. It is an opportunity for
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business people who want to work the convenience of a quick trip, the ability to get work done on the
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way, and the possibility of avoiding lengthy airport security processes. Not to mention,
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I've already challenged Red Deer to look at becoming our next million-person city. And so,
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a great new way for us to grow out the affordable housing in central Alberta. This is all part of
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our 15-year plan. This is a vision for the future. In Alberta, we have never been content with small
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dreams. We have long been known as a province of innovators and entrepreneurs for a reason. And today's
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no different. We are still a province of innovators, entrepreneurs, and visionaries. It's true in our
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energy industry, in our technology and innovation industry, in our film and television industry, and
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now it's also true in our transportation industry. Minister Dreschen and his team have been relentlessly
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pursuing the information and partnerships needed to make this vision a reality. Nothing about this plan
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is going to be unilateral. It will take shape only after consultations with municipalities,
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with industry, with indigenous communities, and all Albertans interested in the future of passenger
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rail. A large and efficient passenger rail network stretching across the province has incredible
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potential. It will improve daily life and work, boost the economy, and take away the stress of long-distance
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travel. The system will be transformative if it is planned and built with care and with foresight.
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It will help help guide us to treat the living nature of your experience for the living nature.
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