Franklin station (Calgary)

Franklin Station is a Calgary C-Train light rail station in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It serves the Northeast Line (Route 202) and opened on April 27, 1985, as part of the original route.

Franklin
CTrain station
General information
Location	2826 Memorial Drive SE
Coordinates	51°02′50″N 113°59′40″W / 51.04722°N 113.99444°W / 51.04722; -113.99444
Owned by	Calgary Transit
Platforms	Center-loading platform
Connections	155 West Dover/Forest Lawn 440 Chateau Estates
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Parking	578 spaces
Accessible	Yes
History
Opened	1985
Rebuilt	2013
Services
Preceding station CTrain Following station Barlow/Max Bell toward 69 Street Blue Line Marlborough toward Saddletowne

The station is located in the median of Memorial Drive, just west of the intersection with 28 Street SE. The station is 4.7 km (2.92 mi) from the City Hall Interlocking. Pedestrian bridges connect the station to either side of Memorial Drive. Stairs, escalators, as well as an elevator provide access down to the center-loading platform. The station serves the community Radisson Heights-Albert Park to the south and industrial areas to the north. 578 parking spaces are available for commuters.

In 2005, the station registered an average transit of 4,700 boardings per weekday.^[1]

Station Upgrades

As part of Calgary Transit's plan to operate 4-car trains by the end of 2014, all 3-car platforms were extended. In addition to a platform extension, Franklin Station also had new furnishings installed. Construction was completed in the late Summer/Fall of 2013.^[2] As a result of the change from 3 to 4 car platforms; Franklin, along with every other station between Bridgeland-Memorial and Whitehorn, would have the furnishings on the platforms greatly changed. The old platforms featured a bar coming out from the structure through the middle of the platform; whilst the new platforms contain the name of the station with two light posts aiming away from the name, with glass shelters in between these structures.

• New vs Old Northeast Platforms
•  
  Franklin Station 2023
•  
  Barlow-Max Bell Station 2007

Calgary Transit, in collaboration with Shaw Communications, announced on November 16, 2016 that 8 new locations for Public Wi-Fi services would be added to the Calgary C-Train system. These new locations would add public Wi-Fi to 18 new stations; including Franklin Station. These changes ere done as they would improve transit experience for their users, which would improve customer commitment.^[3]

Crime

Of the communities Franklin Station borders, according to AreaVibes: Albert Park has an estimated crime rate of 5,776/100k and Radisson Heights has an estimated crime rate of 5,663/100k. This puts the singular community of Radisson Heights-Albert Park as the worst community for crime along the C-Train system, being decently worse than Marlborough, Acadia and Rundle.^[4][5]

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, Franklin along with Southland, Marlborough, Heritage, Sunalta, Rundle, Whitehorn, Brentwood, Chinook, Crowfoot, 8th Street SW, Anderson, Dalhousie, Westbrook Stations would have arrests relating to the aforementioned drug trade.^[6]

Shortly after 3:30 PM on January 19, 2011, a man in his early 20s was walking with his female friend at the Franklin LRT Station. The two were approached by 3 men and a confrontation occurred at the top of the spiral stairs outside the station, and the men started punching the young man. The victim and his friend started fleeing, but the male escaped with a stabbing by an unknown object. ^{[7] [8] [9]}

At approximately 10 PM on August 28, 2012, a 31-year-old female victim was walking right outside the Franklin LRT Station, when she heard someone yelling at her from a nearby vehicle. The woman was startled and began walking to the nearby Franklin LRT Station, as the victim was about to enter the station, the suspect ran up behind her. The man engaged in conversation with the victim, and then quickly began to grab at the woman and pull her towards him. ^[10]

At roughly 12:15 AM on Wednesday July 22, 2015, two men were taken to hospital from the Franklin LRT Station with non-life-threatening injuries from a stabbing attack. ^[11]

At about 2:45 PM on Tuesday April 5, 2022, police were called to Franklin LRT Station after a stabbing had taken place on the C-Train platform. One person was taken to hospital and the other was arrested later in Downtown. ^[12]

At the Franklin LRT Station at roughly 2:40 PM on November 11, 2022, two men feeling uncomfortable waited outside for their trains. When two men approached them and punched one of the men in the jaw. Police say that this attack was hate motivated with homophobia in question. ^[13]

References

1. Calgary Transit (2005). . Archived from the original on June 8, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-24.
2. . Archived from the original on 2013-01-19. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
3. "Calgary Transit and Shaw Communications expand Public Wi-Fi to the Northwest and Northeast CTrain stations". Calgary Newsroom. November 16, 2016. from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
4. "Radisson Heights, AB Crime Rates & Map".
5. "Albert Park, AB Crime Rates & Map".
6. "Hatchets, knives and drugs: Police charge 40 people in CTrain undercover operation".
7. "Witnesses of LRT stabbing asked to come forward | Globalnews.ca".
8. "Two teens charged in LRT stabbing". 26 January 2011.
9. "2 teens charged in LRT station stabbing". CBC News. 2011-01-26. from the original on 2023-03-23.
10. "Groping Near Franklin CTrain Station". YouTube.
11. "Stabbings at Franklin LRT station send two people to hospital".
12. "1 person injured, 1 arrested after stabbing at Franklin LRT station". 5 April 2022.
13. "Police investigate homophobic attack after man punched in jaw on CTrain platform".