Valley Line LRT | TransEd/Marigold | City of Edmonton

This morning, I observed a couple of single car trains that had as many standees as those who were seated, and then one that had a dozen of passengers. The next train display at Avonmore must've been malfunctioning because on one side it said next trains in 4 and 26 minutes, and the other said 15 and 25 minutes although the near empty train was arriving.

Kosy123 said:

How tf did we get lucky with a 27 km tramway/elevated tramway for less than $5 billion because $19 billion for 38 km is insane. We literally are paying peanuts compared to every other city.
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I think a combination of a few factors. City of Edmonton had all its ducks in a row procuring these projects before construction costs dramatically escalated, although even the recently procured Capital Line extension is coming it at a fairly reasonably cost. Then from when I spoke to someone here who's from Quebec, I can't exactly recall what he said but basically there are a few big construction firms who are in bed with the province (think of the federal SNC-Lavalin scandal but way more entrenched) and they can almost charge what they want. But somehow, Calgary's Green Line is $100 million/km more expensive.

As critical as I am about Translink/Vancouver, they probably win the recently value war with their $6 billion 16 km Langley Expo Line extension. $375 million/km for a 90% elevated line fully separated from traffic.
 
dkazzed said:
This morning, I observed a couple of single car trains that had as many standees as those who were seated, and then one that had a dozen of passengers. The next train display at Avonmore must've been malfunctioning because on one side it said next trains in 4 and 26 minutes, and the other said 15 and 25 minutes although the near empty train was arriving.
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The display might not have been entirely wrong. From Twitter:

Edmonton Transit Service (ETS)
@takeETSalert
The Valley Line between Bonnie Doon and Downtown has been affected by some signaling issues. Trains continue to run but are currently running behind schedule. Bus bridging has been activated as an alternative until trains are fully back on schedule.
 
Yeah I was in one of those delayed cars lol. It's not the first time it's happened but the moment there's some form of delay during peak hours, it gets full fast.

It really shows how many people are taking the Valley Line, how key that 5 min frequency is in preventing current and future overcrowding and should finally shut people up about "NoBoDy TaKeS tHe LrT" comments from someone living in Sherwood Park.
 
I saw very few trains this morning now that I think of it. I just assumed Avonmore was malfunctioning because it didn't indicate Now with trains there in both direction.
 
dkazzed said:
I think a combination of a few factors. City of Edmonton had all its ducks in a row procuring these projects before construction costs dramatically escalated, although even the recently procured Capital Line extension is coming it at a fairly reasonably cost. Then from when I spoke to someone here who's from Quebec, I can't exactly recall what he said but basically there are a few big construction firms who are in bed with the province (think of the federal SNC-Lavalin scandal but way more entrenched) and they can almost charge what they want. But somehow, Calgary's Green Line is $100 million/km more expensive.

As critical as I am about Translink/Vancouver, they probably win the recently value war with their $6 billion 16 km Langley Expo Line extension. $375 million/km for a 90% elevated line fully separated from traffic.
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Which still pales in comparison to pre-pandemic projects. Going back to Montreal, all 67km of the REM network cost 6.5B back when the contracts were signed in 2018.

Ottawa's Confederation line is fully grade-separated and will be 40km long once fully built out, with a price tag around 5B (2B for the initial CBD segment, 3B for the stage 2 extensions). That's basically the original ask for Calgary's Green line, both north AND south.

Granted, those two examples make extensive reuse of existing infrastructure (Mont-Royal Tunnel and Champlain Bridge for REM, BRT Transitways for Confederation), but it's still a massive difference in terms of dollar for value.

By comparison, Edmonton's expansion portfolio (Valley line, Metro Blatchford, and Capital line south) is around 6B for 33km of track, but everything is all-new. Given that we're also paying a premium in Alberta for labour and materials, it's not too steep a price all things considered.
 
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Miz station girders going up
 
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