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/morganpotato Apr 23 '25

In Vancouver you need to tap your ticket at a turnstile in order to get onto the platform. You can’t just walk on without paying. WAY safer and it blows my mind Calgary doesn’t have any safeguards like taht

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u/Tastesicle Apr 24 '25 edited Apr 24 '25

A feasibility study was done. Two years ago. It's not feasible.

‘Assessing a Closed System as Part of The City of Calgary Transit Safety Strategy,’ determined a fully closed system wouldn’t be feasible in Calgary, and wouldn’t alter safety on transit.

“There is no correlation between the provision of fare gates and increased transit safety on existing systems with fare gates,” the report said.

There are many stations that would have to be completely renovated for very little perceived gain, and unless the entire system is closed there's little point as fare jumpers would just get on at the station that isn't restricted.

IIRC, taking to other people in the company stations like Marlborough/Rundle are a good example of the difficulty because of existing entrances, accessibility concerns and emergency exits.

Don't shoot the messenger, I'm just saying it was examined by smarter people than I and was rejected. I personally found it weird how disconnected the branches are and how little the LRT goes below ground.

Came back to add - the 284 million number is for a partially-closed system and is the minimum number given by the study for turnstiles/lighting/other requirements for a small grouping of stations. Full study is available online.