Could daily intercity passenger rail service be revived across Western Canada?

[milomilo]

What you are envisioning is quite different than what was proposed in the only study that has been done recently on rail travel in the Bow Valley, which was 8 round trips per day in the summer.

Frequencies

To be comparable with an all-day bus option, an all-day rail service is proposed. Figure 14-5 shows an
illustrative time-distance diagram for summer service, with each line used to represent a different
trainset. In the summer period, eight round trips per day are proposed, with two of the trainsets laying
over in Banff, rather than returning to Calgary in the mid-day when demand is lower. For the winter
period, six round trips are prop

And this is what they say about infrastructure:

Rail Infrastructure Capacity Requirements

Should a complete, all-day rail service be under consideration, a completely dedicated track with
multiple short sidings would likely be required. At least five short sidings of approximately 1,000 feet
each would be required. In downtown Calgary, from approximately Sunalta station east, because of
available-land constraints in downtown Calgary, a passenger rail train would need to use existing CP
track.

Provided CP were able to utilize the available track capacity overnight of the new dedicated track, we
believe there is sufficient capacity for freight use for the foreseeable future.67 One exception is the
exclusive use of one of the four tracks through the downtown. Because additional tracks could not be
built through this area, the passenger train would need to utilize one of the four tracks exclusively
throughout the day when the service operates. To compensate CP for the use of this track, the
extension of two tracks at Keith Yard to at least 11,000 feet long is proposed.

Now, I don't treat this study as being much authority, but I do agree with their proposed service levels and hence the need for dedicated track. I see your point that leisure travel wouldn't be as much affected by freight delays, but going the track sharing route with its associated reliability problems would ensure this proposal could never be used for anything but leisure, and not commuting.

I also very much agree with your analysis of the cost of building dedicated track - it will be expensive. But until we are OK with spending what it costs to build a dedicated track, I see little point pursuing a train to Banff. Better to plow that many into improved regional buses and get the demand there for rail.