We ride at dawn: Much-delayed Valley Line Southeast LRT set to start running

Nearly three years behind schedule, trains loaded with commuters will soon be screeching along the tracks of Edmonton's Valley Line Southeast LRT.

The long-delayed LRT project is set to open to passenger service on Saturday with the first trains expected to depart at 5:15 a.m. from the stops at Mill Woods and 102nd Street, downtown.

The ride for the full route takes about 30 minutes.

On opening day and in the short-term, trains are going to run about every 10 minutesbetween the start of service until 9:30 p.m., in both directions,Monday to Saturday. Thena train will come every 15 minutes until service ends for the night at 1 a.m. On Sundays, the train will run every 15 minutes.

While the LRTisdesigned to run trains every five minutes during peak periods during the week, the city is giving itself "breathing room" before providing service at full capacity at the advice of other jurisdictions, saysBruce Ferguson, branch manager for LRT expansion and renewal for the city.

"So if something does pop up, then you've got time to work on it," Ferguson said.

The city does not have a time frame of when the frequency will pick up, but it could in the next month or two, said Ferguson.

In the meantime, the 73A and 73B Mill Woods buses, which run parallel to the Valley Line, are going to run until February 2024.

Years in the making

For years of testing, only transit staff, inspectors and sandbags designed to mimic the weight of real flesh and blood commuters have caught a ride on the long-delayed line.

Connecting downtown to the southeast Edmonton neighbourhoods of Mill Woods, the 13-kilometre, low-floor line is expected to serve 30,000 riders per day.

But it's been a long, bumpy ride to get here.

The $1.8-billion project, a public-private partnership with Trans-Ed, was supposed to be operational in December 2020.

Keren Tang, councillor for Ward Karhiio, said some of her constituents have been waiting years even decades for the line to become a reality.

The neighbourhoods of Mill Woods were designed in the 1970s with the idea that residents would have access to a host of mass transit lines that would connect to the core, Tang said. Many people moved to the area with expectations that these services would be in place soon.

"It's an accomplishment and there is a big, big relief," she said. "I think everyone's just really looking forward to it."

Tang describes the project as a game-changer in how many suburban Edmontonians approach the commute.

And while she expects glitches, Tang said that the first ride will be a moment of celebration for many.

For some, the moment will be bittersweet, she said.

"You know one person told me, 'I'm glad I'm still around to be able to ride it.' It's been that long."

Patrick O'Rourke, an asset manager with TransEd, saidhe's been with the project for over two years and it's nice to see it come to fruition.

"You get to change the landscape not only of the city, but also provide a new service to citizens," O'Rourke said.

From light rail dreams to logistical nightmares

Conceptual planning for the city's new LRT network began in 2009, setting the stage for the Valley Line still taking shape today. Once complete, the entire line will run fromMill Woods in the southeast to Lewis Farms in the city's west end, crossing through downtown and connecting to the Capital and Metro lines.

The line was part of an optimistic new transit plan that envisioned a nimble urban network of low-floor trains connecting neighbourhoods across the city.

In January 2011, conceptual plans for Valley Line Southeast were approved but Edmonton continued to wrestle with how best to pay for the project.

In 2012, city council made the call to deliver the southeast leg of the Valley Line through a public-private partnership (P3); in 2015 after an 18-month procurement process the TransEd consortium was announced as the successful contractor.

Edmonton council agreed to employ the model based on the need for cash infusions from other levels of government: $250 million from the federal government in 2013 and a $600-million assistance package from the province one year later.

A groundbreaking ceremony, in which then-mayor Don Iveson was joined by then-federal infrastructure minister and current Mayor Amerjeet Sohi, was held in April 2016, as the ink dried on the city's new contract with TransEd.

The first construction delay materialized in the spring 2018, in the form of a mysterious, car-sized slab of concrete found in the North Saskatchewan River during construction of the Tawatin Bridge. It held up work on the bridge for more than two months.

In October 2021, the company announced that the project was again delayed because of a longer-than-expected testing process for the new trains. The COVID-19 pandemic was blamed for creating workforce shortages and supply chain issues for some construction supplies. A new service date was set for early 2022. In December 2021, the completion date was again pushed back, this time to late 2022.

Then, in August 2022, cracks were found in the concrete piers supporting elevated sections of track. Extensive structural work was needed to strengthen the bridge structure and the 30 compromised piers were shored up with steel rods and concrete.

The final delay came in June 2023 with the discovery of faulty signalling cables. Workers discovered oxidation on the lines during testing and 140 kilometres of cable had to be replaced.

'Any day now'

Like many other Edmontonians, Justin Draper watched the delays drag on with frustration

He and his wife bought their house in the Greenview neighbourhood two-and-half years ago with the expectation the line would soon be running. He'd hoped to use it for a daily commute downtown.

"Our realtor told us, 'Any day now' the line will open up ... I have been impatiently waiting."

Draper said he looks forward to finally riding the line for work and for weekend fun. He plans to get up early Saturday to catch the first train.

"I'm a huge public transit guy," he said."I'm very excited to finally be on that train."