Edmonton Light Rail Transit

The Edmonton Light Rail Transit ( LRT abbreviated ) is a light rail in Edmonton in the Canadian province of Alberta. The LRT is part of the public transport system of the city of Edmonton and runs over a length of 20.3 km.

Route

The 20.3 km long double track starts and ends in the north- east of the city with the station Clareview and runs in a southwesterly direction to the city center with the stations Belvedere, Coliseum and Stadium at the surface. Before the station Churchill the route goes into the ground and runs in the downtown area with the stations Central, Bay / Enterprise Square and Corona in east-west direction. Between the stations Grandin and University, the route crosses the North Saskatchewan River on the established specifically for light rail Dudley B. Menzies Bridge in north-south direction. Shortly before station Health Sciences / Jubilee, the route returns to the surface and then runs in a southerly direction over the stations McKernan / Belgravia, South Campus and Southgate to Century Park terminus.

History

Already in 1962, the City of Edmonton awarded the contract to develop a high-speed rail system. The actual start of construction in 1974 on the 7.2 km stretch between Belvedere and Central. This was opened on 22 April 1978. In the same year, the Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton in Commonwealth Stadium, which is accessible via the station stage. With the opening of the route Edmonton was the first North American city with less than one million inhabitants, with a light rail.

The first extension of the distance to 2.2 km on 26 April 1981 the commissioning of the new terminal Clareview. With downtown expansion in 1983, the underground stations Bay (now Bay / Enterprise Square) and Corona were added. The southern route was again extended to the station Grandin 1989. The station opened in 1992, the University LRT reached the southern part of Edmonton's and crosses the North Saskatchewan River. After a long time without an extension of the route follow the opening to the station Health Sciences, which was renamed in Health Sciences / Jubilee in 2009, on 3 January 2006. Route to the terminus was completed in two stages. On 25 April 2009 2.3 km were released with the stations McKernan / Belgravia and South Campus and opened a year later, on April 24, 2010, the remaining 5.47 km of the station Southgate to Century Park terminus.

Extension

To keep pace with the growth of the city, see more plans before a southern extension to the city limits and a northeastern extension. In addition, the route towards the north to the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology ( NAIT ) is already under construction and will be opened in 2014. Among others are extensions to the west of West Edmonton Mall and to the southeast ( area Boonie Doon and Mill Woods ) in planning.

Rolling stock

All trains running cars were until 2009 the type Siemens Duewag U2. Of this there are all 37 pieces owned by the City of Edmonton. Some of these railcars was finally assembled in Canada. To cope with the demand on the extensions located and planned in construction, 2005 37 cars of type Siemens SD -160 were ordered. The first car arrived in Edmonton on May 9, 2008. After a test and trial phase, the new car on 26 January 2009 were able to resume normal operation. To be delivered by Siemens further two vehicles per month.