City Hall Station (Calgary)

City Hall/Bow Valley College Station is a Calgary C-Train light rail station in Calgary, Alberta. It is located on the 7 Avenue transit mall between Macleod Trail and 3 Street S.E. It is the easternmost station downtown, and serves as a Gateway station. It was the first downtown station to have dual-side platforms (Downtown West–Kerby station, opened in 2012, was the second). It serves both the Red Line and the Blue Line and is the eastern extent of the free-fare zone. The station is located inside of the Downtown Commercial Core on the southeastern area of the community, near the border of the Downtown East Village community.

This new dual-platform station replaces the previous City Hall and Olympic Plaza stations both of which opened May 25, 1981, as part of Calgary's first LRT line from 8 Street W to Anderson.

The original City Hall Station served only eastbound trains. The station was initially named 2 Street E, and was renamed City Hall in late 1987.

The original Olympic Plaza Station was initially named 1 Street E. It was renamed Olympic Plaza in late 1987 in preparation for the opening of its namesake park adjacent to the station in 1988. The station was located between Macleod Trail and 1 Street SE.

On May 3, 2010, the original City Hall station was closed to be demolished and rebuilt on the spot, with a new westbound platform being constructed across the street, while the original Olympic Plaza station remained open. On June 6, 2011, both City Hall platforms opened and Olympic Plaza was permanently closed and demolished shortly thereafter. After the 2011 Stampede finished, the eastbound platform (South side of 7 Avenue; adjacent to Municipal Building) was re-closed to finish construction and officially re-opened on September 19, 2011. The Westbound platform (North side of 7 Avenue; adjacent to the Library) was completely finished as of June 6, 2011, and remained open.

Olympic Plaza was the last of the original 1981-built stations on 7 Avenue to be demolished. Both of the new platforms are built to 4-car length and use the same design as all other downtown stations.

Notable Locations near the station include the Calgary Municipal Building, Calgary City Hall, Arts Commons, Calgary Central Library, Bow Valley College and Olympic Plaza. Also, the United States Consulate Office is located at nearby Rocky Mountain Plaza across from Olympic Plaza (and also beside where the now-demolished station of the same name used to stand).

On March 22, 2023, as part of an attempt to deal with crime along the CTrain system, City Hall, along with every other station between City Hall and Downtown West/Kerby Stations would have the lighting and cameras upgraded.

On September 19 2023, Calgary Transit announced the station would rename to City Hall/Bow Valley College to simplify the commute for students and staff and better reflect the area.

With 2007 data released by Calgary Transit: the former Olympic Plaza station had a ridership of 11,800 on weekdays, the old City Hall station had a ridership of 9,700 on weekdays, and the former 3 Street SE Station had a ridership of 3,400 on weekdays. With these combined, the modern City Hall station would've had an average weekday ridership of 24,900 in the year of 2007.

Around the station

Major destinations

* Arts Commons
* Bow Valley College
* Calgary City Hall
* Central Library
* Olympic Plaza
* The Bow (skyscraper)

Communities

* Downtown Commercial Core
* Downtown East Village

Major streets

* 3 Street SE
* 5 Street SE
* 7 Avenue S
* 9 Avenue S
* Macleod Trail
* Stephen Avenue (8 Avenue SW)

See also

* CTrain
* Red Line (Calgary)
* Blue Line (Calgary)
* Calgary City Hall
* Bow Valley College

References

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CTrain stations
Railway stations in Canada opened in 1981
1981 establishments in Alberta
Railway stations at university and college campuses
Buildings and structures in Calgary