Green Line (Calgary)


The Green Line is a light rail transit megaproject planned to run between north-central and southeastern Calgary, Alberta, Canada. When completed, it will be the third line in the CTrain network which will be known as Route 203, connecting with the existing Red Line and the Blue Line in Downtown Calgary. The Green Line will be the first rail line in Calgary to operate low-floor trains and is the largest public works project in the history of Calgary, about three-and-a-half times bigger than the second-largest project.
When completed, the Green Line will comprise 29 stations spanning 46 kilometres. Stage 1 of construction will feature 15 stations and has been funded and approved by Calgary City Council. Construction of Stage 1 is anticipated to start in 2021 and will complete in 2027. The scope and funding of future extensions to the north and southeast have not yet been determined.
On May 12, 2020, the City of Calgary announced changes to the alignment of the line. The changes included the addition of 9 Avenue N Station in Crescent Heights, increasing the number of stations in Stage 1 to 15, and bringing the total number of stations to 29. The revised alignment replaced the deep-earth tunnel under the Bow River with an elevated guideway over the east end of Prince's Island Park, and has brought the line to the surface between 9 Avenue N and 16 Avenue N, running along the two centre lanes of Centre Street. The Green Line north of 16 Avenue N has been planned as surface running train since the city’s 2017 recommendations.
On June 16, 2020, city council voted 14–1 in favour of the revised Stage 1 alignment. Construction is expected to start in early 2021.

Description

The Green Line will be an urban and suburban light-rail system using low-floor trains with curb height boarding. It will feature three distinct characters throughout the line: at-grade, elevated, and underground. Generally, stations will be smaller and less elaborate than existing CTrain stations, due to the use of low-floor trains. The southeast segment of the line will run similarly to the existing Red Line and Blue Line, with free-standing stations, bells and gates on at-grade crossings, and a dedicated right of way. The track between 26 Avenue SE Station and Ramsay/Inglewood Station is elevated on a guideway similar to the existing Sunalta Station. The line is then completely underground with four underground stations through the Beltline, the Centre City, and Eau Claire. The underground segment begins at a tunnel portal at 11 Ave SE / 6 St SE adjacent to the Victoria Park Bus Garage. It will enter the Beltline in a shallow tunnel below 11 Ave SE, before reorienting north and entering the centre city under 2 St SW. The train then stops underground at 7 Avenue SW Station, providing direct transfer to the existing Red Line and Blue Line. The train will continue north, stopping underground at 2 Avenue SW Station in Eau Claire, exiting at a tunnel portal integrated into the Eau Claire Market. Then, an S-curved elevated guideway will take tracks to Centre Street, north of the Centre Street Bridge. The train will then run northward in the centre two lanes of Centre Street in a dedicated right of way, leaving two lanes for car traffic south of McKnight Blvd and four lanes north of McKnight Blvd. The train will continue northbound, and tracks will eventually enter into the median of Harvest Hills Boulevard, and span north of Stoney Trail into the suburban community of Livingston a later stage.
Stage 1 of the Green Line, which will stretch from 16th Avenue North to Shepard in the southeast, will be constructed in three segments:

Stations and route

The line will run from north-central to southeast Calgary with 46 kilometres of track and will feature 29 stations., the planned Green Line corridors are served via three bus rapid transit lines: Route 300, Route 301 and Route 302.
Stage one of construction will extend from 16 Avenue North at 16 Avenue N Station, through downtown Calgary, to 126 Avenue SE at Shepard Station. Riding the entire length of stage one is expected to take about 37 minutes.
†Terminus
‡Terminus

Green Line (Stage one)

Future north extension

Future southeast extension

Additional infrastructure

When completed, Stage 1 of the Green Line will feature:
When the full line is complete, it will also feature 12 bridges, 10 park and ride facilities, 10 tunnels.

Future expansion

Though the alignment and general design of future expansions have been approved by city council, the timeline and funding of future extension has not yet been determined. In 2019, several potential Stage 2 build-outs were being evaluated, depending on available funding. These were:
The megaproject is expected to have far-reaching impacts to the mobility, economics and quality of life of hundreds of thousands of Calgarians. Deerfoot Trail is currently the primary transportation route from north-central to southeast Calgary. It is the busiest freeway in Alberta, and suffers from chronic congestion. Calgarians spent an average of 15.7 hours in peak hour congestion in 2016. The Green Line alignment runs adjacent to Deerfoot Trail and is expected to be a catalyst for reducing traffic on the arterial route, as well as having impacts on traffic city wide. The completed Green Line will reduce city-wide congestion by 10-15% and reduce total vehicle kilometres traveled by up to 40%. Additionally, the line will reduce travel times for existing transit users by an average of about 25 minutes. Centre Street between 9 Avenue N - McKnight Blvd will be reduced to two lanes for vehicle traffic, converting the road from an arterial through-road to a local street. Those wishing to travel between downtown — McKnight Blvd using Centre Street will be encouraged to ride the CTrain, or take alternate routes such as Edmonton Trail or 14 Street NW. The Green Line will contribute towards Calgary's economic recovery in response to the COVID-19 pandemic by generating 20,000 jobs for the construction of stage one alone, and by connecting 200,000 jobs within walking distance of the route. The line will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30,000 tonnes per year and will be entirely powered by wind. Stage one is expected to have a daily ridership of 65,000 people.

History

Trams ran along the surface of Centre Street for 41 years, from 1909 to 1950. The city’s updated 2020 alignment runs the Green Line on the surface of Centre Street, restoring the historic alignment of Calgary’s trams.
The Green Line was first envisioned in 1983. As early as 1986, the communities of McKenzie Towne, New Brighton and Copperfield had set aside land along 52 Street SE for the future line. In 1987, the city then conducted the Southeast Mass Transit Corridor Study and concluded that southeast Calgary would one day require a dedicated light rail line. In 2010, the city anticipated that the Green Line would be required before Calgary’s population reached 1.25 million, though the city surpassed that population just 5 years later. Chronic congestion on Deerfoot Trail is partly attributed to the failure to construct the Green Line before the 1.25 million population target. In 2011, the city began considering three possible alignments for the north-central leg of the Green Line: along Nose Creek adjacent to Deerfoot Trail, on Edmonton Trail, or on Centre Street. After engagement with the public, the city selected Centre Street as the preferred alignment.
In 2012, the Green Line was proposed as two separate new lines — one from downtown to north central and one from downtown to the southeast. The division of the line was rejected by council. Through 2016, $101 million had been spent on right-of-way acquisition and preliminary studies. In May 2017, the city announced the Green Line would be built in stages due to the unexpectedly high costs of certain design choices. Although the original estimate for the entire 28-station Green Line was $4.5 billion, the cost of Stage 1 alone, including the $1.95 billion cost of the centre city tunnel, is estimated at $4.65 billion. In late 2017, the city began land preparations, utility relocation and environmental redemption around the sites of South Hill, Ogden, Highfield, 26 Avenue SE, and Ramsay/Inglewood stations. Additionally, the city removed a landfill at the site of Highfield Station.
In early 2019, the NDP provincial government committed $1.5 billion in funding paid for by the provincial carbon tax. In late 2019, the United Conservative provincial government cut the Green Line’s budget by 86% and passed a bill allowing them to terminate remaining funding “without cause” and with only 90 days notice. As the megaproject’s approval was looming in early 2020, a group of wealthy oil industry and business executives, all with ties to the United Conservative Party, organized an invite only event at the Calgary Petroleum Club with city officials. Despite speculation that the group's objective was to cancel the project, some attendees insisted otherwise. One of the participants, oil industry executive Jim Gray, suggested the group was not opposed to the line but instead wanted to "de-risk" it. The group called for replacing half of the rail line with a bus, cancelling the downtown subway, and for the use of high-floor trains. On June 16, 2020, council rejected the group's demands and voted 14 to 1 to approve the line. A poll conducted that same month found 68.7% of Calgarians in support of the project. The CA$4.6 billion cost of Stage 1 will be shared in roughly equal portions between the federal government, provincial government, and the City of Calgary.