Calgary Transit reduces CTrain service on weekends and public holidays

Rukhsar Ali · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 24, 2025 5:00 PM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Calgary Transit is investigating shorter, two-car CTrain work implicit weekends and nationalist holidays successful a aviator task which began connected March 22.

According to a metropolis quality release, the change is portion of an effort to optimize the CTrain's play service, arsenic good as reduce vigor depletion and maintenance. 

"We cognize however important transit work is for our customers and however captious it is to usage our funds responsibly," Aaron Coon, manager astatine Calgary Transit, said successful the release. 

"This aviator allows america to lucifer work with request portion maintaining reliability and availability for those who beryllium connected nationalist transit."

WATCH | Calgary Transit aviator cuts down connected vigor costs:

Calgary Transit said that portion its ridership continues to turn and instrumentality to pre-pandemic levels, the CTrain is inactive seeing less riders than the 400-person capableness of 2 bid cars connected weekends. 

According to transit officials, extracurricular of peculiar events, an mean of 84 play riders instrumentality the bid per trip, and up to 300 during busier times.

Some riders are acrophobic astir reduced service

However, immoderate CTrain riders connected Saturday said that they're already noticing busier than accustomed bid cars.

Amrit Sahota said helium takes the LRT astir each time and finds it inactive gets rather engaged astatine definite hours connected the weekends. 

On the archetypal time of the aviator program, helium felt the change.

"It's making a batch of quality due to the fact that shorter carriages mean much radical are fitting into it. Some radical are pushing astir and this is causing tons of problems [for] radical with disabilities and [others]," helium said.

"While I was travelling successful the morning, determination was a woman with a… kid. She [couldn't] spell wrong [the bid car] due to the fact that it was similar beauteous packed."

Commuter Lucynda Langley said reducing work by 1 bid car does marque a difference.

"There's conscionable not capable room," she said. "You person radical bringing bikes connected and everything similar that… dogs."

Special circumstances

While two-car work volition run connected weekends and nationalist holidays, the metropolis said further trains volition beryllium made disposable during times of precocious request specified arsenic during sports games and concerts. 

City-wide events similar the Calgary Stampede volition spot impermanent increases successful bid lengths from 3 to 4 cars.

The metropolis said if the aviator programme proves successful, Calgary Transit whitethorn see applying the two-car operations to non-peak hours connected weekdays arsenic well.