"We are not at any point ready to commit money to this," Kenney told reporters, the same day the company behind the project announced it has submitted an updated proposal to the province as well as to the
We have to give this very close rigour and that's the stage that we're at right now."
The proposal from
Liricon, which owns the
According to Liricon, building a passenger rail line between the popular tourist town and
The proposed project would operate on a new, dedicated passenger line built within the existing
The remaining portion would be covered by Liricon, Plenary and debt financing, Waterous said. While project partners aren't asking the province to commit any upfront capital funding, they are asking it to commit
"It's essentially a mortgage payment on half the capital. And the reason it's only on half the capital is because the other half we can cover from ticket prices," Waterous said in an interview. "So this is actually very good value for the province."
Liricon hopes to get a yes or no from the province by early February, Waterous said, so that it can move on to the advanced design phase of the project.
The project will require twinning a heavily travelled portion of CP Rail's track. In an email, CP spokeswoman
"Any proposal to co-locate a passenger rail service on CP property must preserve our capacity to move freight, both at current levels and those required to support future growth," Woodrow said. "Alberta’s economy depends on a freight rail transportation system that can safely and efficiently move goods and commodities, especially through this critical trade corridor."
Municipal leaders in the area, including the mayors of both
Liricon says its own conservative estimates suggest a passenger rail line could capture 25 per cent of daily visitors to
But environmentalists have previously raised questions about the impact increased rail travel could have on wildlife in the area, as well as the potential environmental harm that could come if the rail line proves popular and increases overall visitation to the park.
— With files from
This report by
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