VANCOUVER A high-speed rail line between Calgary and Edmonton could cost between $1.8 billion and $3 billion, says the vice-president of the company proposing to build the project.

Lecia Stewart, vice-president in charge of high-speed rail for Bombardier Transportation, said the price difference depends on whether the proposed JetTrain uses existing CPR railroad track or Bombardier builds a completely new track.

“You can go through the economics of that, but the most economical approach would appear to be the CPR line,” Stewart told Business Edge following a speech to a B.C. construction industry roundtable breakfast group in Vancouver last week.

Although Stewart has spoken about the merits of high-speed rail between Calgary and Edmonton, she has not previously given a cost estimate for the line. The cost range is included in a feasibility study, conducted by Calgary-based transportation think-tank the Van Horne Institute, which is to be released on Oct. 6.

– Lecia Stewart, VP of Bombardier Transportation

The price will also hinge on whether the proposed Calgary-Edmonton high-speed train uses electrified or non- electrified track.

Engineers at Bombardier have combined the elements of a jet engine with a locomotive, enabling the development of a 241.5-km/h high-speed train that could run on non- electrified track. Stewart has described the JetTrain as the world’s first “high-speed, non-electric train set.”

“We build electrified, we build non-electrified – it’s a question of what makes the most sense,” said Stewart.

She recently presented the feasibility study’s report to Premier Ralph Klein, but declined to disclose the results of what she described as a “private” meeting.

But she indicated the meeting went well.

“Doing business in Alberta is a very refreshing experience,” said Stewart. “It’s true to its reputation of its very entrepreneurial spirit, and it’s very open, deliberate and definite about the things that the province does and doesn’t do.

“I admire that. So often, we live in a world where we’re equivocating all the time, and in Alberta you know where you’re going to stand.”

Participants in the study include CP Rail, SNC-Lavalin, Canac and Ottawa.

After Stewart spoke at a 2003 transportation conference in Calgary, Dennis Apedaile, CPR’s assistant vice-president of government affairs, said the Alberta Tories will ultimately decide whether the Calgary-Edmonton high-speed system is built.

“Why will they decide?” asked Apedaile in an interview with Business Edge. “Because it won’t pay for itself if we do it on our own.”

Stewart said the Calgary-Edmonton high-speed case is different from others proposed in North America in that the private sector is leading the charge.

“This is the first time that the private sector has come to the table on looking at a high-speed initiative,” said Stewart. “In the past, it’s been more government-led.”

She said estimated ridership numbers and revenue numbers are “quite promising.”

Travellers make five to six million trips between Calgary and Edmonton per year, with road travel accounting for 95 per cent and air accounting for the remaining five per cent.

“From what I saw from the study, not only is it technically feasible, but the market is there,” said Stewart.

But she indicated Bombardier will likely face opposition to the plan from the airlines.

“I think that we should give consumers a choice – and the market will decide,” said Stewart, choosing her words carefully because the Bombardier group of companies also builds airplanes. “Rail and air have co-existed very nicely in Europe for decades, and they can do so here. I see them as complementary.”

She said high-speed rail is necessary because not enough airport runways and roads can be built to meet demand in the future.

As an economy, Canada has to diversify its transport- ation modes so that travellers are not completely dependent on one mode, she added.

(Monte Stewart can be reached at monte@businessedge.ca)