Liricon Capital Ltd. and Plenary Americas announced that they have restructured their Calgary Airport Banff Rail (CABR) project proposal, originally submitted to the Province of Alberta in November 2021.
The updated approach supports the Province’s recently announced plans to advance development and to potentially build and operate an express passenger train service from the airport terminal to downtown and a “Grand Central Station” in the Rivers District. Specifically, should the Province decide to build the track from the terminal to downtown and Grand Central Station, and provide track access for three CABR trains per hour from the airport terminal to Grand Central Station, then Liricon/Plenary will develop and build the track from Grand Central Station to Banff and operate CABR at no cost to the Province. Structured as a public-private partnership, CABR’s “one seat ride” from the terminal to downtown and on to the mountains will provide reliable, high frequency, multi-class mass transit on a dedicated track in the CPKC rail corridor.
“Liricon/Plenary’s restructured Calgary Airport Banff Rail proposal allows the Province to leverage the government’s investment by integrating with a private sector solution. In doing so, the Province will maximize the impact of its investment since the Grand Central Station to Banff line will require no Provincial tax dollars,” said Liricon’s managing partner Jan Waterous.
Plenary Americas president Brian Budden added: “A plan that has the Province develop the 20-kilometre route from the airport to downtown, along with a new Grand Central Station, and Liricon/Plenary developing the 130-kilometre route from Grand Central Station to Banff, creates a strong, taxpayer-friendly solution to providing passenger rail service in a critical transit corridor.”
Since Liricon/Plenary initially submitted its Enhanced Unsolicited Proposal in November 2021 to the Government of Alberta, there have been several major developments for the advancement of regional rail by both the Province and CABR.
Over the last two years, the Government of Alberta has progressed regional rail by:
- Advancing an Airport Rail Connection Study
- Initiating a Regional Rail Master Plan Study
- Identifying the opportunity for a “Grand Central Station” in the Rivers District
- Collaborating with the City of Calgary to integrate the Green Line into Grand Central Station
Based on this work, the Province has signalled that it is contemplating directly developing the express passenger rail service from the airport terminal to downtown and the Grand Central Station, given its unique position to accommodate multiple stakeholders and future regional routes, including potentially Airdrie to Okotoks, and resolve the CPKC rail corridor downtown pinch point.
Since submitting the proposal, Liricon/Plenary has advanced CABR by:
- Obtaining an improved economic impact analysis and preliminary ridership forecasts,
- Furthering a wildlife impact mitigations approach,
- Investigating hydrogen rolling stock and supply alternatives,
- Receiving broad tourism industry support,
- Receiving widespread business stakeholder support,
- Initiating preliminary Stoney Nakoda engagement, and
- Advancing its construction strategy.
Incorporating this new information and to support the Province’s vision for regional rail, Liricon/Plenary, with the support of the Canada Infrastructure Bank, has updated the underlying approach to CABR in its proposal. Specifically, should the Province build the 20 km track from the Airport Terminal to downtown, resolve CPKC rail corridor downtown pinch point, and construct Grand Central Station, then:
- Liricon/Plenary will build 130 km track west from Grand Central Station to Banff by twinning the existing track in the CPKC rail corridor to CPKC’s specifications
- Liricon/Plenary will build platforms or otherwise accommodate stations at:
- Beltline
- Calgary West
- Cochrane
- Stoney Nakoda
- Canmore
- Banff
- Liricon/Plenary will operate three CABR trains per hour from the Calgary Airport Terminal to Grand Central Station, and then on to Banff
- Liricon/Plenary will provide multi-class service (economy and premium)
- Province will provide CABR track access at no cost for three trains/hour from Airport Terminal to Grand Central Station
- Province makes no contribution for CABR’s development, capital or operating cost
By updating its proposal at this time, the Province can consider it, as well as other private and public sector proposals, as part of the Rail Master Plan Study which the Province announced in May 2024. Upon the completion of the Rail Master Plan Study, expected in April 2025, should the CABR route be of interest to the Province, it will then be able to evaluate the updated proposal relative to other private or public sector options for the CABR route. Assuming the Province conducts that evaluation in May 2025, and a private sector option is selected, then the Province can proceed to negotiate a project development agreement (PDA) with a selected proponent in June 2025. Should the Province select Liricon/Plenary’s updated proposal at that time, then by signing a (PDA) with Liricon/Plenary by July 2025, the Province will secure the Canada Infrastructure Bank financing required for the updated proposal prior to the federal election, expected in October 2025. Without CIB financing, the Liricon/Plenary Proposal for CABR will be terminated.
The Liricon/Plenary proposal for CABR is structured as a public-private partnership (P3). This P3 structure is different from the conventional government approach of using solely taxpayer money to develop, procure and build public transit projects. In 2016, Canada Infrastructure Bank was established to structure and fund P3 projects which take the commercial risk that government usually is forced to assume under traditional delivery models. In 2020, the Government of Alberta had the vision to create an Unsolicited Proposal framework to accommodate this new innovative P3 structure.
Featured image: A Calgary Airport – Banff Rail arrives at Banff Train Station. (Liricon Capital)
