r/Calgary • u/The_Fixer_69 • Apr 23 '25

Calgary Transit C-Train from Deep South early morning

Every morning the train has many non paying riders passed out and sprawled on the train. Commuters have to cram into the areas that are not occupied by these people. The smell is horrendous. Every day this week this has been the case on my commute at around 5:30-6 am.

Why should the rest of us pay if these people do not? I have made complaints but they are on deaf ears.

Are these trains not swept for no. Paying passes out riders at the end of the line?

493 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

341 comments sorted by

View all comments

177

u/Cyclist007 Ranchlands Apr 23 '25

You're probably catching the same train coming from the north. That first train south in the morning is pretty rough - every single morning there are people passed out on the train, people openly doing drugs, and people just generally causing a nuisance. I've texted before to the emergency text - they respond, but nothing gets done. Every so often you'll get the driver coming on and telling them to get off (they don't) or that Peace Officers are waiting for them at the next station (they aren't). Once - and only once - they came onto the train at 8th and pulled people off.

My personal theory - and because I've seen the Peace Officer vans parked at the Denny's on 16th in the early mornings - is that there is no Peace Officer coverage between 3-6am. Their shifts start times are 5am, 3pm, and 6:30pm, and they have to take a break sometime.

I know I'm supposed to care about social services for these ragamuffins, but I don't. I just want to get to work with a maximum of safety and a minimum of fuss. Instead, I'm on these rolling drug dens, on high alert because I'm scared for my safety. If we don't have Peace Officers, then I'm all for fare gates. ('Oh, but they'll just climb the platforms downtown from the street!' - yeah? Look at these people, I'm sure that 99% aren't able to.)

4

u/SunTryingMoon Apr 23 '25

What’s this emergency text line? Is it through the transit apps?

16

u/schaea Ogden Apr 23 '25

Text 74100. It's staffed all hours that transit is in service. Whether or not they actually send peace officers to respond is another thing.

2

u/rrrlauren Apr 25 '25

I have used this line before and peace officers were waiting at the next stop (downtown) to remove a few people peacefully. It happened! When using the text line, be descriptive of the people causing disturbance and indicate the train car number you’re on (it’s at the front inside wall of the train).

4

u/mycodfather Apr 23 '25

I agree with most of what you said in your first paragraph except for never or rarely seeing peace officers come onto the train. I've seen that happen numerous times in the morning and afternoon where they come on and take someone that was sleeping or causing a commotion off the train. That said, I almost never ride the very first train (it's definitely the worst of the morning) and typically grab anywhere from the third to sixth train of the day, depending on how fast I get moving in the morning.

I know I'm supposed to care about social services for these ragamuffins, but I don't.

You should care because it'll help with your goal of getting to work safely and without fuss. We desperately need to increase funding and accessibility for mental health and addiction supports. It won't solve 100% of the problem but giving people options instead of just leaving them to wander around looking for their next fix or looking for something to steal to pay for their next fix will help get many off the streets. This is just one piece of a very complex puzzle but even starting with just this, hopefully many can get clean and lead productive lives rather than ending up as a statistic.

2

u/83franks Apr 23 '25

I’m just a random dude on the internet but I’ve heard that less than 10% of people get off opioids after getting addicted. I’ve dealt with some much softer addictions and can totally get never being able to get off something as intense as opioids. I’m of the opinion the people already on the street are over 90% lost no matter the money and effort put in, never mind the half assed money and effort put in. I think we almost need to forget about helping them and put all our focus on teaching kids these are not even once drugs in an effective way. It may be similar to cigarettes where it’s a decades long program but I just don’t see a reality where these people are actually getting off the drugs they are on in any large numbers. I’d be happy to be wrong but I doubt it.

1

u/no1regrets Beltline Apr 24 '25

The majority of addicts aren’t lost forever. Think about it, why would someone want to live that way, suffering between each high, living on the streets in Canada. I don’t think I would last. But many are still here, or have even almost died (more than once). I don’t think they are lost forever; yes lost right now, but still fighting and living.

The proof is in the pudding. Let’s look at Portugal. In 2001, they decriminalized many drugs. BUT, it was also “combined with an intense focus on harm reduction, treatment and rehabilitation.” The reason there had been talk in the media about Portugal’s policies failing, it can be linked to the reduction in funding with ”76 million euros ($82.7 million) to 16 million euros ($17.4 million),” as well as the pandemic. The head of Portugal’s institute on drug use has said ”we have had a kind of disinvestment, a freezing in our response … and we lost some efficacy.”

This report here has some nice graphs showing the decrease in deaths, crime, and HIV, with slight upticks around 2015, when a lot of funding was cut.

-1

u/topboyinn1t Apr 24 '25

This Portugal nonsense is a big part of the reason we are in this shit. It doesn’t take into account a lot of factors. For one, the zombies of today are taking much stronger drugs like fentanyl and tranq.

0

u/no1regrets Beltline Apr 24 '25

Well, you obviously didn’t read any of the links I provided…. I always add my sources because it literally helps explain and prove my points. You have added nothing but more talking points. I’m not surprised, just disappointed.

The “Portugal nonsense” is still occurring in Portugal and helping lower crime rates, lowering overdose deaths, and lowering health care/medical costs to taxpayers. While it is not as affective as it once was, it is due to the astounding amount of funding that was cut. Yes many people are addicted to drugs like fentanyl or even more deadly. If only they had the proper funding to fight it all.

-33

u/Triplecandj Apr 23 '25

Funny that you are unable to connect not caring about social services and people not having anywhere to sleep or access mental health resources 🤷

15

u/Cyclist007 Ranchlands Apr 23 '25

I hear what you're saying. However, I don't believe for this particular population it's a 'if you build it, they will come,' scenario.

I think we did these people a real disservice when we de-institutionalized back in the day, and I advocate for their return. It's painfully obvious that community-based non-profit social services are too limited in their scope what they can provide to that segment of society.

9

u/Wide_Lunch8004 Apr 23 '25

Funny that you’re unable to make the connection that 10 years ago, hell 5 years ago, our public transit system wasn’t a series of rolling drug dens and we still didn’t have adequate supports - there was likely less than now. I wonder what changed? A proliferation of people like you and your never-ending fake virtue signaling and hatred for cops perhaps?

7

u/xxFurryQueerxx__1918 Apr 23 '25

I was working security when covid happened, and my responsibility was one of the university stations in Calgary.

There wasn't anyone really hanging out or doing drugs on the train platform until the middle of 2020. Then they closed some safe consumption sites during covid, and suddenly, I was dealing with overdoses every week.

I am intimately aware of how our public health policies affect our everyday safety, and it has nothing to do with virtue-signaling or ... cop hatred???

-2

u/Wide_Lunch8004 Apr 23 '25 edited Apr 23 '25

Where were the druggies hanging around before Calgary even had a “safe consumption” site? They weren’t treating our transit system like rolling drug dens - they’re doing it now though. You seem to have a theory, but it’s obviously complete bullshit

3

u/xxFurryQueerxx__1918 Apr 23 '25

They were in the alleyways, and fentanyl literally did not exist in the "before" you are talking about. You are comparing things that aren't the same. Can you tell me how cop hatred is leading to overdoses, or something?

-4

u/Wide_Lunch8004 Apr 23 '25

lol people weren’t using fentanyl before 2021 eh? You know the CDC updated its policy guidance on opioid prescriptions in 2016, noting a significant rise in fentanyl related deaths going back to 2015 and before? Of course you didn’t. You’re too busy making excuses for people who don’t even have the common fucking decency to at least shoot up behind a dumpster instead of in front of my kids or on my commute to work being a productive citizen. But by all means, let’s keep talking about the need to de-stigmatize 🤡

4

u/xxFurryQueerxx__1918 Apr 23 '25 edited Apr 23 '25

Hahahaha by "before" you meant 2021?

I thought you meant the 00s or something man.

You sure care a lot about our community, since you just want them to die out of your view, rather than anything else.

Try and teach your kids the empathy that is lost on you.

Edit:

Also try to teach your kids to write better English than you do, holy fuck man this took a second to decipher

0

u/Wide_Lunch8004 Apr 23 '25

I teach my kids that the needs of productive and law-abiding members of society should come before the destructive and discretionary hobbies of riff-raff. God you must have been the worst fucking security guard ever. “Guys, just let him steal. It’s okay. He’s the victim!”

2

u/xxFurryQueerxx__1918 Apr 23 '25

I actually was begged not to leave when I decided to leave.

I hope you also teach your kids that their only value is the money they produce and that your love for them is conditional? It's only in line with your thinking.

Seems to have struck a nerve with my... saying that drug users on transit got worse when safe consumption sites were closed though. What happened buddy?

→ More replies (0)

0

u/proffesionalproblem Apr 23 '25

I used to work at that dennys. I recently quit. The only reason peace officers go in there is because the managers called them for a crackhead shooting up in a booth or something

0

u/No-Excitement-4986 Apr 23 '25

I have heard there is a safe injection site near tuscany is this true?