Business in Calgary
ears ago I rode France’s excellent fast train, the TGV, from Lyon to Paris. It was an amazing ride – fast, smooth, comfortable and competitively priced. This is a train that actually does 300 kilometres per hour. What is remarkable is that when you go into a curve, you can still walk down the aisle of the train without feeling like you are being thrown against the side. I think this has something to do with the suspension system and track design.It would be my fervent wish that we could duplicate something like that in Alberta. If we did, I would even take a trip to Edmonton just for the ride.But...the current discussion we are having about the costs and benefits of a fast train in Alberta seem more about smoke and mirrors than hard-headed analysis.The TGV is very successful and profitable in France because it serves a population of 60 million people in a country that is 100,000 square kilometres smaller than Alberta, with a population of four million. There are about 12 cities in France with a population between 500,000 and 200,000 in addition to Paris (three million) and Marseille (one million). There are another 20 cities with populations between 100,000 and 200,000.Bless the Van Horne Institute at the University of Calgary for doing its part to keep hammering for an Alberta bullet train. I think the institute should be commended for trying to make us think big and there may be merit in its argument that a high-speed train link between Edmonton and Calgary would open new and creative development synergies in the province.
ears ago I rode France’s excellent fast train, the TGV, from Lyon to Paris. It was an amazing ride – fast, smooth, comfortable and competitively priced. This is a train that actually does 300 kilometres per hour. What is remarkable is that when you go into a curve, you can still walk down the aisle of the train without feeling like you are being thrown against the side. I think this has something to do with the suspension system and track design.It would be my fervent wish that we could duplicate something like that in Alberta. If we did, I would even take a trip to Edmonton just for the ride.But...the current discussion we are having about the costs and benefits of a fast train in Alberta seem more about smoke and mirrors than hard-headed analysis.The TGV is very successful and profitable in France because it serves a population of 60 million people in a country that is 100,000 square kilometres smaller than Alberta, with a population of four million. There are about 12 cities in France with a population between 500,000 and 200,000 in addition to Paris (three million) and Marseille (one million). There are another 20 cities with populations between 100,000 and 200,000.Bless the Van Horne Institute at the University of Calgary for doing its part to keep hammering for an Alberta bullet train. I think the institute should be commended for trying to make us think big and there may be merit in its argument that a high-speed train link between Edmonton and Calgary would open new and creative development synergies in the province.
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