High-Speed Rail: So Cool

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Entry posted by CTMandR · December 14, 2009

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K50dude: Thanks for your comment! I've realized this too since I began using NAM

Simcitymasterman: Thanks for your vote!

lordmungus: That's also what I thought, and it in fact seemed true that the region was too poor to take a train, so thank you for your vote!

In Other News: The High-Speed Rail link problem has been successfully resolved, turns out the problem was due to technical difficulties in the computers of the stations, but now that the problem is fully resolved, the High-Speed Rail is now in use! Thanks for all who voted to keep it, too!

We are now back in the voice of our Journalist, after various delay's.

Remember how I boarded the train from Jeffory? Well, turns out that train broke down a mile down the tracks, and all the riders walked back to Jeffory. There I was, for days and day, waiting for the track to be cleared and the line to open up again, so I could take a train back. All the while, I was getting calls from my boss about “This building going up!” and “This new rail line being built!” It was all a lot. I never thought one small region could grow so much so quickly, and I really doubted it for a while

However, the line got cleared and trains started running again. I boarded a train for Calgary, and won’t bother on the technicalities of getting there. Bottom line, I reached Spokane and what I saw was amazing.

Spokane had grown so much! There were two new cattle ranches, dozens of new farms, and even a small town center situated in the middle! Everything looked so beautiful I was almost about to take a small tour, but the train kept going.

The ranches I could see were full of cattle, crazing here and there, fenced off.

Even some wealthier residents were moving in, in the middle of all the farmland! I think most of them just wanted to get away from city life. The train went near the Kandex oil terminal, and I found myself around downtown Spokane.

I saw as I passed the main station that there was a small skyscraper built! The first for Spokane. As I passed from Spokane to Calgary, I went through Downtown Calgary, and noted one thing that caught my attention very quickly.

A Subway Station! At first I was shocked, could the city really afford one? Where did it lead? Later, I was to find all this out.

I also passed by a new industrial center, teeming with high-tech industrial growth that looked like it was taking over the more low-tech and dirty ones.

Finally, my train arrived at its destination. Calgary Eastern Station. I got off here and found that this was where the subway leaded! I walked up a small hill and into the Calgary Eastern Terminus for Calgary’s new high-speed rail link! My boss had told me this link was already made, and that it stretched from Calgary to LexingtonBay, and that there were plans to have it run to Trenton as well. It was truly amazing to see.

However, my excitement jumped through the roof as 15 minutes later I was on a train that was rapidly speeding up.

We started rolling through the major parts of Calgary, and I could see the Train I was once on left in the dust, as well as cars and all sorts of moving vehicles. However, the most incredible part was not even the high-speed rail link, as I looked ahead, I saw something else

There were massive skyscrapers all over where what once were houses! This was New Calgary, and the last time I had seen it, the place was but a mere community! Now, there were giant condos, big office buildings, and huge apartment complexes.

To help myself and others with the size of these buildings and the developments, I drew up a little comparison to my own train.

On the next stop, I had to get off. I was going to explore this area before I went to LexingtonBay. Incidentally, I got off at a major hub for New Calgary, a place that served the high-speed rail link, a train line to Lockheart, and a train line to LexingtonBay. The hub also hosted a myriad of bus connections, a parking lot, and its own express subway!

I took the subway into the heart of the city, and found a branch of city hall, where I walked in and took a peek at what was being debated. It was very interesting, as the speaker noted that rapid expansion came with its own set of problems, one of which they were trying to solve now.

This Is Where You Can Vote! The City has decided that in order to meet growing demand and allow Calgary to propel itself into a top position among Western Canadian cities, this area must begin to build high-rises. However, poor planning and lack of amenities has prevented this from happening, and currently there have been 4 proposals that have come up to solve the issue.

A) Plan and Execute a complete overhaul of the area. That includes re-positioning the highway that runs through, tearing down the farms, replacing the airport tram that currently resides, relocating the Industry that has set up, tearing up all the roads, making a completely new roadplan, and replacing all existing health and educational facilities with public ones. The projected cost is around 60Million, however overhead and delays may run the project into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

B) Execute a partial revamping. This includes tearing up the roads in suburban areas, and replacing them with a new street plan. As well, farms will be bought up and used as space for development, and part of the Industrial sector will be relocated. However, all health and educational facilities will stay, with roads drawn around them. On top of that, the existing highway will stay and the airport tram will not need to be moved. The cost is estimated at 30Million, however may rise to 60Million.

C) Sell the land to private developers. This will bring money to the city, however Health and educational cities will be torn down, and the area will become private land. Estimated profit is around 20Million.

D) Leave the area be. All the proposals are too expensive or too detrimental to the city, and the area should be kept as-is. Estimated cost: 5 Dollars.

*Note, all values are calculated in American Dollars/Canadian Dollars, granted they're both about the same amount these days.

The area disputed was one just north of Tavlon, an area that was traditionally farmland. Since it was farmland, the roads had been built irregularly, and bus stops had not been installed. As well, there was no centralized school system. The result was that industrial companies were haphazardly building, some farms were being surrounded, and houses were in highly undesirable locations with no school access. Large buildings stopped here because there weren’t enough space between the existing roads to build them, and it was too expensive to bulldoze them. The proposal was that the whole area should be re-drawn and re-developed, from the ground-up, as a well planned area. However, it was quite costly for the city, and there were alternative proposals.

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Given my excitement, I decided to stop here to rest for a little while. My adventure in this New Calgary and onto LexingtonBay will have to wait until next time. Have a good day everyone!