City LRT project getting back on track

First Valley Line train car sets out for Edmonton

Bombardier on Wednesday met a major milestone for the Valley Line LRT project by shipping the first light rail car to Edmonton.

The car left the factory in Kingston, Ont., on Wednesday morning and TransEd officials say it will be in Edmonton by the end of July.

When it arrives, the rail car will first be set up in the Bonnie Doon Shopping Centre parking lot — “so that everyone can get a feel for its size and impressive branding,” said Sue Heuman, spokeswoman for TransEd, the consortium responsible for building and operating the line.

The train car will then move to the Gerry Wright Operations and Maintenance Facility. The team is scheduled to run tests on it in the yard and on the main line later this year.

Edmonton’s new train cars are being manufactured by Bombardier, which ran into scheduling issues on other projects recently.

That had many in Edmonton worried this project would suffer the same fate.

But this first car for Edmonton is on time.

Heuman said the first rail sections are expected to be installed at the end of July or early August, which is pushed back from an earlier February estimate.

Her team will send out public announcements when that happens and when the first rail is installed.

The line is scheduled to be open at the end of 2020.

At a city council meeting Tuesday, city officials said TransEd is running behind on several fronts but is still able to make up the time to meet the deadlines.

The contract signed through the private-public partnership will penalize the consortium of companies if the line does not open on time.

The first train car destined for the Valley Line LRT was all loaded up Wednesday and ready to be shipped from Bombardier’s Kingston, Ont., factory to Edmonton, a trip that should be completed by the end of July, which is also when the first rail sections for the line are to be installed.