Edmonton Transit taking over operation of Valley Line

The city says Edmonton Transit System will take over operations of the Valley Line Southeast LRT which is currently operated by TransEd.

Operation of Edmonton’s newest LRT line is being shifted to the city’s transit service.

The City of Edmonton said Tuesday in a media release that the Edmonton Transit Service will take over as the long-term operator of the Valley Line, which includes the currently operating southeast and future west legs, from TransEd.

The city chose the public-private partnership that includes transportation giant Bombardier and major construction firm EllisDon in 2016 to design, build, operate and maintain the $1.8-billion southeast line, which opened for LRT riders in late 2023.

Eddie Robar, the city’s manager, said in the release that the decision to have Edmonton Transit take over operation of the line “is the outcome of a complex and diligent business case analysis to determine the most effective and financially responsible operating model for the entire 27-kilometre Valley Line.”

“This is a business decision in the interests of taxpayers and transit riders, not a reflection on TransEd,” he said.

“This is a business decision in the interests of taxpayers and transit riders, not a reflection on TransEd,” he said.

Bruce Ferguson, the city’s branch manager of LRT expansion and renewal, said the city’s contract with TransEd “does contemplate ending agreement early.”

“We’re just following those provisions that are already there,” Ferguson told media at city hall on Tuesday, adding that terminating the contract is “not for anything that TransEd has done.”

“It’s really because we’re expanding the line, and we need a single operator for both events,” he said.

TransEd had been under contract to operate and maintain the Valley Line Southeast until 2050.

Robar said the city had “always contemplated” having one operator for the entire Valley Line because they wanted continuity.

“We knew that back in 2018 when we commissioned the work for Valley Line West, and this is just a culmination of that,” he told media.

A spokesman for TransEd said while the group is disappointed in the city’s decision to terminate the contract, he said it is focused “on continuing to collaborate with the City to support a safe and smooth transition” of the southeast line to Edmonton Transit.

“TransEd’s primary focus now will be to support our staff as the transition to ETS management takes place,” Sergio Flores-Schaeffer, TransEd’s general manager, said in a statement.

The transition from TransEd to Edmonton Transit, which begins immediately, will take one to two years, the city said.

The $2.7-billion western leg of the Valley Line, which runs from 102 Street downtown to Lewis Farms on the far west end and is being built by Marigold Infrastructure Partners, is scheduled to be finished in 2028 followed by testing.

The Valley Line is Edmonton’s third LRT route. The city’s first, the Capital Line, opened with five stations in April 1978 and has been expanded in the years since, including current work worth $1.4 billion extending it to the southwest Heritage Valley from Century Park. The northside Metro Line, Edmonton’s second LRT route, cost $665 million to build opened in September 2015 between Churchill Station and NAIT.