Metro Line

Metro Line
Metro Line approaching Downtown Edmonton
Overview
Type	Light rail
Locale	Edmonton
Termini	NAIT Health Sciences/Jubilee
Stations	10
Operation
Opened	September 6, 2015[1]
Operator(s)	Edmonton Transit System
Character	Mostly at-grade with underground sections in downtown.[2]
Depot(s)	D.L. MacDonald Yard Northwest LRT Yard (proposed)[3]
Technical
Line length	8.8 km
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in)
Operating speed	25 km/h (16 mph)
Route map Metro Line Legend Neil Ross Road Hospital St Albert Centre Bridge over Sturgeon River Downtown St Albert Herbert Road Hwy 216 Anthony Henday Drive Possible Extension/St Albert Approved/Edmonton Campbell Road maintenance facility 137 Street 127 Street Castle Downs 145 Avenue Griesbach 132 Avenue CN Railway yard Hwy 16 Yellowhead Trail Blatchford NAIT  permanent location planned under construction (opening 2015) NAIT  temporary location Kingsway/Royal Alex MacEwan Capital Line to Clareview Churchill Central Bay/Enterprise Square Corona Grandin/Government Centre Dudley B. Menzies Bridge over North Saskatchewan River University Health Sciences/Jubilee Capital Line to Century Park

The Metro Line is a light rail transit line on the Edmonton LRT system, that operates from northwest Edmonton to central Edmonton scheduled to have begun operation by early 2014 but instead opened on September 6, 2015.^[4] The line uses 3.3 kilometres (2.1 mi) of new track,^[5] three new stations, and seven stations on the existing Capital Line. The cost of the project is $665 million, jointly funded by the City of Edmonton, Province of Alberta, and the Government of Canada.^[5][6] It is the first new line that is not an extension of the existing line. The line is expected to add 13,200 riders per weekday.^[7] A trip from NAIT Station to Churchill is expected to take nine minutes.^[8] A number of roadworks are under construction or completed to revitalize the surrounding community. An extension to the northwest city limits has completed conceptual design,^[9] and a further extension is proposed through the city of St. Albert on Highway 2/St. Albert Trail.^[10]

History

In spring 2007, the funding for a concept plan and preliminary engineering was commissioned and the City approved the plan the next year.^[11] In 2008, during construction of the Epcor Tower, the City ordered that the tunnel section below the tower be dug before the tower was completed, this saved $140 million from digging after the tower was built.^[12][13] The remainder of the tunnel, under Downtown Edmonton, was bored, and completed in November 2012.^[14] In 2009 the City approved the relocation of funds from the Gorman extension to the Metro Line, as the City felt northwest was a higher priority.^[15][16] In 2010 the City began preparation work, including utility relocation.^[11] The permanent closure of 105 Avenue between 102 Street and 105 Street was performed so MacEwan Station could be built. 105 Street was permanently closed to vehicular traffic between 107 Avenue and 108 Avenue to allow the line to continue along the existing road corridor, which alleviated the need to widen the corridor and remove some existing trees. 104 Street was closed between 108 Avenue and Kingsway in a similar fashion.^[8]

Testing began in July 2013,^[8] and the line began operation in September 2015 using an interim signalling system, with trains running at a frequency of 15 minutes, rather than 5.^{[4][17][18][19]} There have been three delays in beginning operations on the line: one from April to June 2014, one from June to December 2014, and another from December 2014 to February 2015. The delays have been caused by issues with the signalling system built by Thales.^[20][21][22] Thales gave control of the system to the City of Edmonton in March 2015, but failed to provide adequate documentation to place the line into service.^[17] The public plaza surrounding MacEwan Station, except for the area required to build Rogers Place Arena opened for use by people other than the construction crew in December 2014.^[23] Most testing on the line is complete.^[23]

Future

Approved LRT lines and stations

Edmonton extension

An extension from the permanent NAIT station is in the planning phases by the City of Edmonton.^[24] The recommendation, released in May 2010,^[25] extends the Metro Line through the neighbourhood created by the dismantling of the City Centre (Blatchford Field) Airport, over Yellowhead Trail and the CN Railway yard, along 113A Street and 153 Avenue to the City of St. Albert limits.^[5] The extension would have eight stations, including stops in Blatchford (the neighbourhood created by the airport redevelopment), Rosslyn, Griesbach, Castle Downs, The Palisades, and at Campbell Road.^[24] As part of this extension, a park and ride is proposed at Campbell Rd and 153 Ave, along with a transit centre there, and two more transit centres are proposed at Castle Downs Station and Griesbach Station. This type of line is planned to run with less separation from other traffic, mostly with lower track speeds, no higher than general purpose traffic, still with traffic signal priority and dedicated lanes. This extension is 11 km long, and will have 8 new stations and a rebuilt NAIT station slightly to the west of its current location. This section of the line is not planned to use gate arms, bells and flashing lights as has been done with the Metro Line from NAIT to Churchill.^[26]

St. Albert extension

The City of St. Albert began studying extending Edmonton's LRT in early 2013, identifying four possible locations for stations.^[27] The City is looking at funding from all levels of government, 66% from Alberta GreenTRIP Fund and 8% from the City of St. Albert.^[27] On November 12, 2013, St. Albert council decided to continue studying LRT alignment options, but not to put any money into purchasing land or rail cars.^[28] The selected corridor was approved by St. Albert city council on December 2, 2014, which will run on St. Albert Trail and identified five possible station locations.^[10]

Stations

Station	Grade-Level	Transfer	Area	Opened	Location
Temporary NAIT Station	Surface		Northwest	September 6, 2015	53°33′58″N 113°30′21″W / 53.56611°N 113.50583°W
Kingsway/Royal Alex	Surface		Northwest	September 6, 2015	53°33′28″N 113°30′4″W / 53.55778°N 113.50111°W
MacEwan	Surface		Northwest	September 6, 2015	53°32′52″N 113°29′57″W / 53.54778°N 113.49917°W
Churchill	Underground	■ Capital Line ■ Valley Line (future)	Downtown	April 22, 1978	53°32′39″N 113°29′21″W / 53.54417°N 113.48917°W
Central	Underground	■ Capital Line	Downtown	April 22, 1978	53°32′28″N 113°29′31″W / 53.54111°N 113.49194°W
Bay/Enterprise Square	Underground	■ Capital Line	Downtown	June 21, 1983	53°32′27″N 113°29′54″W / 53.54083°N 113.49833°W
Corona	Underground	■ Capital Line	Downtown	June 21, 1983	53°32′27″N 113°30′21″W / 53.54083°N 113.50583°W
Grandin/Government Centre	Underground	■ Capital Line	Downtown	September 1989	53°32′10″N 113°30′37″W / 53.53611°N 113.51028°W
University	Underground	■ Capital Line	South	August 23, 1992	53°31′30″N 113°31′19″W / 53.52500°N 113.52194°W
Health Sciences/Jubilee	Surface	■ Capital Line	South	January 3, 2006	53°31′13″N 113°31′33″W / 53.52028°N 113.52583°W

Future stations

The City of Edmonton approved the concept plan for a northwest LRT line, and nine stations, May 1, 2013.^[29][30][31]

Station	Area	Location
Campbell Road	Northwest	53°36′56″N 113°35′38″W / 53.61556°N 113.59389°W
137 Street	Northwest	53°36′52″N 113°33′30″W / 53.61444°N 113.55833°W
127 Street	Northwest	53°37′1″N 113°32′23″W / 53.61694°N 113.53972°W
Castle Downs	Northwest	53°36′52″N 113°31′8″W / 53.61444°N 113.51889°W
145 Avenue	Northwest	53°36′28″N 113°31′0″W / 53.60778°N 113.51667°W
Griesbach	Northwest	53°36′2″N 113°30′59″W / 53.60056°N 113.51639°W
132 Avenue	Northwest	53°35′28″N 113°31′0″W / 53.59111°N 113.51667°W
Blatchford	Northwest	53°34′33″N 113°30′37″W / 53.57583°N 113.51028°W
NAIT	Northwest	53°34′0″N 113°30′33″W / 53.56667°N 113.50917°W

Proposed stations

The City of St. Albert identified four possible locations for stations in early 2013. It was further refined so that the corridor selected was St. Albert Trail with five proposed stations.^{[10] [27]}

Location Locale Approximate coordinates Neil Ross Road St. Albert 53°40′21″N 113°38′22″W / 53.67250°N 113.63944°W Hospital St. Albert 53°39′14″N 113°37′45″W / 53.65389°N 113.62917°W St. Albert Centre St. Albert 53°38′24″N 113°37′29″W / 53.64000°N 113.62472°W Downtown St. Albert St. Albert 53°38′8″N 113°37′24″W / 53.63556°N 113.62333°W Hebert Road St. Albert 53°37′17″N 113°36′35″W / 53.62139°N 113.60972°W

References

1. Ramsay, Caley (September 6, 2015). "After lengthy delay, Metro Line LRT opens to riders". Global Edmonton. Retrieved September 6, 2015.
2. "Metro Line (NAIT to North City Limits) - Route Maps". City of Edmonton. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
3. "Northwest LRT - Campbell Station" (PDF). City of Edmonton. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
4. "Metro Line Delay FAQ" (PDF). City of Edmonton. October 8, 2014. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
5. Dykstra, Matt (May 9, 2013). "Edmonton city crews promise to finish north extension of LRT line to NAIT by next spring". Edmonton Sun. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
6. Lent, Gordon (April 10, 2014). "NAIT LRT savings to help Valley Line budget, report says". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
7. Callsen, Laurie (October 25, 2012). "Five projects to watch go up in downtown Edmonton". Metro News. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
8. "North LRT to NAIT (Metro Line)". City of Edmonton. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
9. "Metro Line (NAIT to North City Limits)". City of Edmonton. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
10. Dubois, Stephanie (December 2, 2014). "St. Albert council approves alignment for LRT in city". Metro Edmonton. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
11. "North LRT (Metro Line) Project History". City of Edmonton. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
12. "Work on LRT's third leg to start in June". Edmonton Journal. Canada.com. April 3, 2008. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
13. "LRT line likely to go under Epcor". Edmonton Journal. Canada.com. April 9, 2008. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
14. Callsen, Laurie (November 16, 2012). "New Edmonton LRT tunneling for NAIT line completed". Metro News. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
15. Van Alstine, Brendan (May 25, 2009). "LRT expansion takes people by surprise". Metro News. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
16. Gould, Brian (February 8, 2010). "Council setting the right tone for LRT expansion". Metro News. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
17. Kent, Gordon (August 1, 2015). "City explores 'interim service' for problem-plagued Edmonton Metro LRT line". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
18. "NAIT LRT opening delayed by two months for system testing". CTV News Edmonton. December 4, 2013. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
19. "NAIT LRT extension delayed by two months". CBC News. December 4, 2013. Retrieved December 4, 2013.
20. Tumilty, Ryan (December 4, 2013). "Edmonton’s new NAIT LRT line won’t open on time". Metro News. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
21. Tumilty, Ryan (March 20, 2014). "Edmonton’s NAIT LRT line delayed". Metro News. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
22. Mertz, Emily (October 8, 2014). "Opening of Edmonton’s Metro LRT Line delayed for third time". Global News. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
23. "METRO LINE UPDATE" (PDF). City of Edmonton. Retrieved December 2014. Metro Line to open in early 2015
24. "Northwest LRT to City Limits". City of Edmonton. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
25. Ho, Clara (May 19, 2010). "City announces planned LRT route to St. Albert". Edmonton Sun. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
26. http://www.edmonton.ca/transportation/NW_LRT_Recommended_Concept_Plan_April-2013.pdf
27. "St. Albert LRT" (PDF). City of St. Albert. February 23, 2013. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
28. Paterson, Victoria (November 13, 2013). "Council rejects delay to LRT study". St. Albert Gazette. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
29. "Northwest LRT Project History". City of Edmonton. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
30. "Concept Planning Study Northwest LRT" (PDF). City of Edmonton. May 1, 2013. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
31. "Northwest LRT Recommended Concept Plan" (PDF). City of Edmonton. April 2013. Retrieved September 13, 2013.

External links

• ETS Metro Line web page – The City of Edmonton
• Metro Line (NAIT to North City Limits) Project page - City of Edmonton
• North LRT - Churchill to NAIT on YouTube published by the City of Edmonton. Animated tour of the Metro Line from Churchill Station to NAIT Station.