Liricon Capital Ltd. (Liricon) and Plenary Americas have submitted an Enhanced Unsolicited Proposal to the Government of Alberta’s Ministry of Transportation, Invest Alberta Corporation, and the Canada Infrastructure Bank to develop the high-frequency passenger rail service from Calgary Airport to Banff National Park for completion and operation by 2025.
Alberta government signed a memorandum of understanding with the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) to assess the feasibility of CABR in 2020.
According to the news release, the Proposal is structured as a public-private-partnership (P3), which contemplates financing from private and institutional capital and the CIB. P3 (private capital and CIB) will contribute all the $1.5 billion in capital costs and operate the system. The Proposal seeks a Government of Alberta annual performance payment of $30 million per year for the project and Alberta Government payments do not begin until construction is complete in 2025 and are contingent on the performance of the train.
Calgary Economic Development has estimated that CABR may expand tourism spending by more than $1.2 billion/year.
If the proposal is accepted, the CABR will proceed to construction in 2023.