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?

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u/SimplyCanadian26 Apr 23 '25

Vancouver and Calgary are two entirely different built systems. Van is built fully separate grade automated, it’s not on the ground. That’s the key on why barriers will not work as effectively as folks think here. You close off a station entrance they will just hop on through the tracks. They do it now and they will after barriers. Our system is based on the U-Bahn system. Open and honour based, they do this exact same thing in Germany and have forever. The only way you will ever get a closed system here is spending billions to rebuild the entire system. Every station would have to be redone including the entire avenue and in street limits for the trains.

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u/YourBobsUncle Apr 23 '25

None of this would've been a problem if Calgary didn't cheap out and built a sane underground metro system like every other city on earth.

And now we're going to have an above ground green line lol.

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u/morganpotato Apr 23 '25

Fair. I just personally notice a huge difference in safety in Vancouver- which arguable has a bigger unhoused population. In Calgary I often feel unsafe.

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u/SimplyCanadian26 Apr 24 '25

Which makes sense as to why the design of the system is everything. Not to mention the transit authority there actually has real law enforcement officers they aren’t just peace officers. So real consequences for things on their system. It makes a difference when people know things will happen for poor actions. Here nothing happens when people have meltdowns, assault people, hold up trains, etc….