This is Calgary, Alberta.
Serving a population of 1.3 million people, a network of light rail and transitways connect
this Canadian city, servicing 45 stations and 9 transitway stops.
Consisting of 5 lines and just 60 kilometres of track, the system travels around Calgary,
with trains and buses radiating from downtown to the suburbs.
But how did the system grow from its original stations to the network it is today?
My name’s Zach, and this is the Evolution of the Network.
The original line of the Calgary LRT opened in May 1981, running from the south end to
downtown Calgary.
Servicing 16 stops, the line ran in a dedicated right of way from Anderson into downtown,
running along the Downtown Transit Mall to 8th St West.
Four years later in April 1985, a second line of the C-Train network opened, running from
the northeast quadrant of the city into downtown.
Starting from a new station at 10th St West, the line shared the downtown transit mall
to 2nd St East, before branching off to service eight new stations to Whitehorn.
At this time, the Red line was also extended one stop west along the downtown Transit Mall
to 10th St West, sharing its terminus with the newly opened Blue Line.
On the Red Line, 42nd Ave station was renamed to 39 Ave in late 1986, better reflecting
the location of the station.
September 1987 saw the extension of the Red Line to the northwest quadrant of the city,
servicing five new stations to the University of Calgary.
With this change, Red Line trains no longer serviced the Downtown Transit Mall station
at 10 Street West, with only Blue Line trains continuing to end at the stop.
On the downtown transit mall, two more stations were renamed in late 1987.
1 Street East was renamed to Olympic Plaza, while 2 Street East was renamed to City Hall.
Two more station renamings were undertaken three years later in May 1990, with two stations
on the Red Line being renamed to reflect their location near the Calgary Stampede grounds.
Stampede station was renamed to Victoria Park/Stampede, while Erlton station was renamed to Erlton/Stampede.
Three months later in August, an additional one stop extension of the Red Line opened,
bringing the northwest branch of the line to Brentwood.
Six years after the last change, Calgary experimented with commuter rail operations, beginning a
five-month pilot in April 1996.
Running south from Anderson Station along the existing CP rail tracks, the line ran
every 20 minutes during rush hours to a temporary platform at 162 Avenue.
Using a diesel multiple unit train, the line proved popular, and led to the fastracking
of a future LRT expansion along the corridor.
While the pilot ultimately ended as planned in August of that year, the Red Line was later
extended two stations south along the alignment, bringing trains to Fish Creek-Lacombe in October
2001.
Two years later in December 2003, another one stop extension on the opposite end of
the Red Line brought services to Dalhousie.
Finally, the Red line reached its present southern terminus in June 2004, with two new
stops added to Somerset-Bridlewood.
A seven-year long program to refurbish the Downtown Transit Mall began later that month,
rebuilding all the stations along the corridor to accommodate four car trains.
1st Street station was the first to be relocated, moving one block east along the transit mall
in October 2005.
Two years later in December 2007, a one stop extension of the Blue line brought service
to McKnight-Westwinds, the first extension of the line since its opening.
The Downtown Transit Mall refurbishment continued into April 2008, with the closing of 6th St
station for platform reconstruction.
The neighbouring 7th St station was relocated the following year in February 2009, followed
one month later by the reopening of 6 Street, and the following month by the closure of
3rd St station.
In June, another one stop extension of the Red line opened, bringing the line further
northwest to Crowfoot.
Six months later in December, 8 Street station was reconstructed, relocating one block east.
Refurbishment of the downtown transit mall continued into 2010, with the closure of 4
Street Station in January.
However, the station at 3 Street in the eastbound direction was reopened shortly afterwards
in March.
In the east end of downtown, stations at 3 Street East and City Hall were closed in May,
to allow for the construction of a bidirectional station.
4 Street Station was reopened in January 2011, having been rebuilt in its original location.
Six months later in July, a bidirectional station at City Hall was opened, replacing
the station at Olympic Plaza.
A two-stop extension of the northeast branch of the blue line opened in August 2012, bringing
service to its present terminus at Saddletowne.
A couple weeks later in September, the final station on the Downtown Transit Mall at 10
Street West closed for revitalization, reopening four months later in December under the new
name of Downtown West/Kerby.
At the same time, a six-stop westward extension of the Blue line was inaugurated, extending
service from the newly built station to 69 Street.
The final extension of the northwest branch of the Red line opened in August 2014, bringing
service to its present terminus at Tuscany.
Four years later in November 2018, Calgary launched MAX, its branded bus rapid transit
service.
As part of the system’s Purple line, a new transitway opened along 17 Ave, servicing
the route running to and from downtown.
The transitway consisted of median bus lanes and stations at the four east-most stops,
as well as a dedicated transit roadway serving the two western stops.
Four months later in February, the Red line station at SAIT/ACAD/Jubilee was renamed following
the rebrancing of the Alberta College of Art and Design, now being known as SAD/AUArts/Jubilee.
MAX was expanded later that year, with the opening of the Southwest transitway in December
2019.
The dedicated transit roadway serviced three new stations for the MAX Yellow, two of which
were also shared with the MAX Teal route.
This brings us to the C-Train map that we know today.
In the years to come, C-Train service in Calgary is expected to expand, with construction underway
on a third light rail line.
Running south from downtown, the new Green Line will travel to the southeast quadrant
of the city, including four stations in an underground subway.
A thirteen stop Green Line is projected to open by 2030, running from Eau Claire Stn
to Shepard, interchanging with the Red and Blue lines downtown at 7 Ave station.
That was the evolution of Calgary’s light rail and transitway network, giving us the
2 light rail lines and 2 transitways that we know today.
If you haven’t already, be sure to watch our Evolution of the Network videos on other
Canadian cities, which you can access by clicking the button in the top right corner.
Don’t forget to leave a like if you enjoyed this video, and comment down below to join
in the discussion.
My name’s Zach, and I’ll be Vanishing Underground, until the next one.