Evaluating the Feasibility and Sustainability of Regional Passenger Rail Service in the Cranbrook–Golden Corridor

 

By: Richard Mario Kalvin

Prepared for: Integrated Travel – Regional Rail Initiative

October 2025

 

This report involves a discussion of the technical, environmental, and socioeconomic feasibility of the proposal of re-established regional passenger rail between Cranbrook and Golden, British Columbia. The proposed service aims at closing the divide between accessibility in rural areas, mobility based on tourism and sustainable transit development. This paper would estimate potential ridership, the carbon-emission reductions and ratios of benefit to cost in 2045 by applying an Excel-based system of analysis to the forecast period. The results pointed to a high level of viability. Ridership is expected to start at around 230,000 passengers in 2025 and reach 385,000 passengers in 2045 and expected to lower the CO₂ emissions by over 2000 tonnes annually, and is expected to continue growing at a steady rate throughout the 20-year prediction period. The resultant benefit-cost ratio of 1.4 proves that not only is reintroduction of the passenger rail along this line technically viable, but economically viable when environmental and accessibility gains of the project are put into money. The corridor promotes various policy intentions, such as the CleanBC Plan, the Emission Reduction Target of 2030 in Canada, and the provincial plans of regional economic diversification, or regional mobility. In addition to the elements of quantitative measurement, this project has far-reaching effects on the community connectivity, employment, and development of tourism. Reopening of the Cranbrook-Golden linkage would spur the movement of new visitors into the region, boost inter-community integration and make the region less reliant on the automobile. The analysis indicates that, with proper strategic implementation, such service may be a national prototype of sustainable regional transportation in the mid-density rural settings.

 

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