A commuter rail line linking Airdrie to Calgary and Okotoks would be an expensive but useful – one might even say necessary – piece of infrastructure that would bring convenience to thousands of residents, particularly commuters.
Visit any other country in the world (particularly countries in Europe and Asia) and you'll likely use some kind of high-speed train to travel from city to city. These interconnected transportation networks have been established for decades and are highly utilized by both commuters and visitors.
Unfortunately, this same public transportation system never caught on in western Canada, despite (or perhaps because of) the long distances between most urban centres. If you want to travel from Calgary to Edmonton or Calgary to Winnipeg, you'd better be willing to drive, take a bus, or fly.
As most people are aware, the populations of all of Calgary's "bedroom" communities are rapidly expanding. Airdrie's population is now more than 80,000 people, while Cochrane and Chestermere remain two of Alberta's fastest-growing communities. Cochrane now boasts a population of approximately 35,000 people, while Chestermere is probably north of 25,000. Both municipalities are building additional subdivisions to address their rising demand for housing.
It's well established that all four of Calgary's bedroom communities (including Okotoks) possess a high percentage of workers who commute to and from Calgary for work. And as everyone in Airdrie is aware, the volume of commuters leaving or arriving to the city during rush hours in the mornings and late afternoons leads to clogged thoroughfares and a lot of frustration. The same traffic issues exist in Okotoks, Cochrane, and Chestermere.
Therefore, it's well worth exploring the feasibility of building a passenger rail line that would ease much of this traffic congestion. Not only that, but passenger rail would reduce carbon emissions by taking so many cars off the highways.
While admittedly expensive, passenger rail is really a no-brainer that would improve the quality of life for many Airdrie, Calgary, and Okotoks residents. So let's see if it can be done.
