Southland station (Calgary)

Southland
CTrain station
General information
Location10158 Sacramento Drive SW
Coordinates50°57′51″N 114°04′36″W / 50.96417°N 114.07667°W / 50.96417; -114.07667
Transit authorityCalgary Transit
PlatformsCenter-loading platform
Connections81 Macleod Trail South
99 Acadia/Oakridge
106 Deerfoot Meadows/Southland
125 Cedarbrae
126 Braeside
Construction
Structure typeAt-grade
Parking650 spaces
AccessibleYes
History
Opened1981; 44 years ago (1981)
Rebuilt2011; 14 years ago (2011)
(minor)
Services
Preceding station CTrain Following station
Heritage
toward Tuscany
 Red Line Anderson
toward Somerset–Bridlewood

Southland Station is a Calgary C-Train light rail station in Southwood, Calgary, Alberta. It serves the South Line (Route 201) and opened on May 25, 1981, as part of the original line. The station is located on the exclusive LRT right of way (adjacent to CPR ROW), 9.5 km (5.9 mi) south of the City Hall interlocking at Southland Drive.[1]

The station is located in the far northeast of the Southwood community, along the border with Haysboro and Acadia. The station is located directly south of Southland Drive SW—where the station gets its name; and roughly 350 metres west of Macleod Trail.

The station consists of a center-loading platform with mezzanine access on the North end and grade-level access at the South end. 650 spaces are available for parking at the station.

In 2005, the station registered an average transit of 10,500 boardings per weekday.[2]

On July 12, 2016, a flash flood occurred at Southland Park and Ride. This flash flood flooded with high water marks on some cars above the headlights of the cars causing water ingress into engines and car interiors.

S Block

Southland Block or also known as S Block is the area of Southwood that Southland Station is apart of. Southland Block includes Southland Park, the Southland Drive Bridge, and Haddon Road Park. It is famous in local youth culture for the large amounts of graffiti in it, and the large amount of homelessness in and around it.

The Southland Drive Bridge apart of 'S Block'

Upgrades

The station was originally accessible only from the West side of the tracks; accessing the Southland Business Center required a long walk north to Southland Drive, along Southland Drive over the tracks, and South again on the other side. In November 2009, a pedestrian overpass was added to the Southland Park business centre, which allows for much quicker access to the business park.

Southland station was originally built to accommodate the three-car trains in use at the time of construction. On February 3, 2011, construction was begun to renovate the platform to accommodate 4-car trains.[3] On March 19, 2011, service at the platform was halted until May 6 to facilitate the construction of the upgrade.[4][5]

The upgrade was completed in late August 2011.[6]

Crime

Southwood - the community the station is located in - is one of the worst communities along the Calgary C-Train network for crime. Southwood was measured to have a 2023 crime rate of 6,136/100k, making it worse than communities such as Forest Lawn or Marlborough.[7]

Southland Station has been criticized for being a crime hotspot along the Calgary C-Train System. On a CityNews interview in January 2022 with Calgary Transit Lead Staff 'Stephen Tauro', it was listed as one of the 5 stations with an unusually high crime rate. The others beig: Marlborough, Rundle, Heritage and Sunalta Stations.[8]

During the month of March 2023, an underground drug operation along the Calgary C-Train system would get disrupted. Officers seized the substances of fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, morphine, and Xanax. Multiple weapons such as 21 knives, two machetes, two hatchets, a handgun, and a can of bear spray were also seized by police. 40 people would get arrested between multiple stations, Southland along with Franklin, Marlborough, Heritage, Sunalta, Rundle, Whitehorn, Brentwood, Chinook, Crowfoot, 8th Street SW, Anderson, Dalhousie, Westbrook Stations would have arrests relating to the aforementioned drug trade.[9]

A victim, 27, was attacked at about 1:30 AM on the morning of November 10, 2006 as he descended the escalators at Southland LRT Station. The victim was surrounded by five young adults, with one person assaulting the man as the others watched.[10]

An hour after a stabbing took place at 4th Street LRT Station on the night of January 10, 2022, another unrelated stabbing took place at Southland Station.[11]

References

  1. ^ "Southland LRT Station information brochure" (PDF). City of Calgary. 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 12, 2007.
  2. ^ Calgary Transit (2005). "LRT Station Ridership". Archived from the original on 2007-06-08. Retrieved 2007-08-24.
  3. ^ "Southland CTrain Station Upgrade". Calgary Transit. Archived from the original on February 8, 2011.
  4. ^ "Southland CTrain Station Closure". Calgary Transit. Archived from the original on March 15, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
  5. ^ "Southland CTrain Station Reopens". Calgary Transit. Archived from the original on May 24, 2011. Retrieved May 3, 2011.
  6. ^ "Calgary Transit: Southland CTrain Station Upgrade". Archived from the original on 2011-03-15. Retrieved 2011-03-18.
  7. ^ Service, Calgary Police. "Calgary Police statistical reports". www.calgary.ca. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
  8. ^ Recent stabbings leave Calgary transit riders feeling unsafe, 11 January 2022, retrieved 2022-12-17
  9. ^ "Hatchets, knives and drugs: Police charge 40 people in CTrain undercover operation".
  10. ^ "LRT attack likely random: police". CBC News. 2006-11-10.
  11. ^ "Recent stabbings leave Calgary transit riders feeling unsafe". YouTube. 11 January 2022.