Edmonton’s newest light rail expansion, the Valley Line Southeast LRT, is set to open Saturday, November 4.
Nearly three years behind schedule, the $1.8 billion, 13km commuter rail line runs 11 stops from downtown at 102 Street to Mill Woods Town Centre. The entire trip takes approximately 30 minutes.
The first in-service trains depart from Mill Woods and downtown at 5:15 a.m. and will operate at a 10-minute frequency until 9:30 p.m. From there, frequency drops to every 15 minutes until end of service at 1 a.m. That is the typical Monday to Saturday schedule. Sunday train service runs at an all-day reduced frequency of every 15 minutes.
Construction in the project, a public-private partnership with Trans-Ed, first broke ground in 2016 and was riddled with delays throughout. From the discovery of a large concrete slab embedded in the North Saskatchewan River in 2018, to the COVID-19 pandemic causing workforce shortages and supply chain issues in 2021. Then came the discovery of cracked concrete piers in elevated sections of track in 2022 and rusty signalling lines in 2023, both forcing lengthy repairs.
