Alberta’s plan to build commuter rail across the province is in its early stages, but passenger trains could return to Fort McMurray for the first time since 1989 if the plan works.
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An ambitious plan to build passenger rail networks crisscrossing Alberta includes a proposed line connecting Fort McMurray and Edmonton. If it ever happens, this would be the return of passenger rail to Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo since 1989.
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The passenger route is part of Alberta’s Passenger Rail Master Plan, which was announced Monday by Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen. The province pictures passenger rail networks linking Edmonton and Calgary to each other, to airports, to Jasper and Banff, and mid-sized cities including Red Deer, Grande Prairie and Fort McMurray.
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For now, the plan includes a $9-million feasibility study and is soliciting bids. The study should be completed by 2025. Alberta could be ready for construction of new passenger lines as early as 2027. The trains would be run by the private sector and a Crown corporation similar to Ontario’s Metrolinx.
“Essentially, we’re starting from scratch,” Dreeshen said in an interview. “We’ve floated the concept around to the Via Rails of the world and to train manufacturers. This has been public in my mandate letter for some time. There’s lots of interest from companies that are waiting to see what happens to this plan we’re developing and how they could play a part and put in their bids to work within that vision.”
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Dreeshen says he misspoke when he mentioned briefly a Fort McMurray to Grande Prairie passenger line during Monday’s press conference. The province is connecting the two northern regions with Highway 686, a 218 kilometre, two-lane gravel highway from Fort McMurray and Peerless Lake.
But passenger rail has become a priority as Alberta’s population is expected to hit roughly seven million people by 2050. There have been corporations that have tried to expand passenger rail in Alberta, but none have succeeded.
For now, Via Rail only stops in Edmonton and Jasper as it runs through Alberta. CP Rail and CN Rail use the remaining rail networks for freight. Dreeshen says the province has no plans to impede their ability to haul cargo across Alberta.
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Mayor Sandy Bowman said he welcomes any project that improves connections to Fort McMurray, and is looking forward to meeting with Dreeshen about the rail plan. He also said he hopes the province will continue prioritizing plans to upgrade Highway 881, twin Highway 63 north of Fort McMurray and complete Highway 686.
“The development of a passenger rail route between Fort McMurray and Edmonton would improve the movement of people, goods and services in and out of the region, boost accessibility, and support the economy,” said Bowman in an email.
“At the same time, it is important that we continue to work with the provincial government to ensure attention is given to connectivity within the region and that existing routes are well maintained and serve the needs of residents.”
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Last passenger car left Fort McMurray in 1989
The last passenger train for the region left Fort McMurray on October 27, 1989.
The train pulled a single passenger car mixed with freight cars through muskeg and Boreal Forest since 1922. It connected Fort McMurray, Janvier, Conklin and Lac La Biche to Edmonton, although it was common for trappers and hunters to jump off at their traplines.
It had plenty of local nicknames–Muskeg Express, McMurray Special, Muskeg Flyer, McMurray Express, the Blue Train, the Folksy Railroad, the Muskeg Mixed and, according to a 1989 article in the Edmonton Journal, “a few names less complimentary.”
Whatever people called it, the train’s passenger use started plummeting in the mid-1980s. CN Rail cut passenger service to once a week after Highway 881 became an all-weather road between Conklin and Fort McMurray in 1987. Daily flights out of Fort McMurray also became common.
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An Edmonton Journal article from Oct. 1989 reports that in 1985, 2,276 people travelled north on the line in 1985. That dropped to 302 northbound passengers in 1988. Between Jan. 1 and April 30 in 1989, 70 people boarded the northbound train in Edmonton.
Ardell Russell, a CN conductor for 40 years, told a reporter on the train’s final ride he was lucky to see more than six passengers riding the single coach during the route’s final years.
“It’s not like it was five or 10 years ago,” Russell said. “In those days we’d stop the train and pick up 20 or 30 people at a time.”
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vmcdermott@postmedia.com
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