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Alberta’s government is eyeing train connections between airports and the downtown cores of its two biggest cities as the first key projects in its new passenger rail plan.
But construction isn’t expected to start any time soon.
The government says it plans to spend $15 million over the next three years to move ahead with planning those routes and others before shovels break ground.
On Friday, the government released an executive summary that sees high-speed rail between Edmonton and Calgary, and a train connecting Calgary to the Rocky Mountain resort town of Banff, within 30 years.
It also sees trains potentially connecting Edmonton and Calgary to surrounding suburbs.
The airport connections would be built as extensions to each city’s existing light-rail transit systems.
Premier Danielle Smith said the airport links — a major priority that the government heard about during public engagement — are the most feasible in the short term.
“We heard many perspectives, but one thing was abundantly clear: a feasible passenger rail network is no longer just a vision for Alberta, it’s a goal,” said Smith, speaking at the Calgary International Airport.
“Certainly, it is an ambitious goal, and it will take about three decades of steady incremental work to achieve it.”
Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas said that after years and years of talk about building a passenger rail system in Alberta, he’s thrilled to see it nearing reality.
“Calgary is Canada’s fastest-growing major city. As we continue to welcome new residents and businesses, we need infrastructure that matches our ambition,” Farkas said in a statement.
Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack also said he was excited. Having a train to the airport would be “transformative” for the province’s capital, he said.
The master plan says the full build-out would cost at least $60 billion.
“This includes infrastructure (tracks and stations), land, maintenance and storage facilities, and governance costs,” reads the executive summary.
A new Crown corporation would also be required to oversee operations, it says.
The plan identifies high-speed rail as the more beneficial option over standard diesel locomotives.
It doesn’t come with any proposed routes, though it notes high-speed rail between Edmonton and Calgary, and between Calgary and Banff, would require extensive land acquisitions.
It says lines couldn’t run along existing highway corridors, as that would require building costly overpasses. Going through urban areas along highways, such as Red Deer, would also come with “significant community impacts.”
Despite the roadblocks, a family who submitted an unsolicited proposal for Calgary-to-Banff train service five years ago is convinced the project is closer than ever to being built.
“We think that hopefully now we’re off to the races,” said billionaire oil executive Adam Waterous. He and his wife, Jan, are behind holding company Liricon Capital.
Their proposed route — with financial backing from Canada Infrastructure Bank and a private investment firm — would be adjacent to the Canadian Pacific Kansas City freight line.
The government’s master plan says building passenger trains adjacent to freight lines would add time to the development process, not speed it up.
It says building along freight routes rules out high-speed rail and that diesel-powered passenger trains would have limited frequency and reliability. It would also infringe on freight capacity, and federal involvement would be necessary since freight corridors are regulated by Ottawa.
Waterous, who holds a multi-decade lease of Banff’s train station, said Liricon’s proposal should be compelling for the government.
The family is promising to eat the cost of building the Calgary-to-Banff line, if Alberta pays to connect downtown Calgary to the city’s airport.
“It’s quite a remarkable business opportunity from the province’s perspective,” said Waterous.
Despite the challenges identified, the plan says the overall network would be a money-making endeavour, with fares easily covering operating costs. It also says the rail system would eliminate 30-million tonnes of carbon emissions and avoid thousands of fatal or serious car accidents.
Opposition NDP transportation critic Lorne Dach said he supports the United Conservative Party government’s vision. But he criticized the lack of detail.
“Albertans deserve transparency and a real plan,” said Dach.
Smith, asked if she was confident the plan would be carried out beyond her time in office, said it’ll depend on how much planning progress is made in the next few years.
“You’ll have to ask me again in a year-and-a-half what my optimism is, but it’s pretty high right now.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2026.
— With files from Dayne Patterson in Calgary
Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press
