The City of Edmonton said Wednesday that speed restrictions on the Metro LRT Line would be lifted this weekend.
Officials said the city had been given the green light to lift the speed restriction in place at intersections for the Metro LRT Line. The go-ahead came from Rail Safety Consulting, an independent safety auditor hired to make sure the new signaling system is sound.
Starting Sunday, February 19, trains on the Metro LRT Line to NAIT will travel at speeds of up to 50 kilometres per hour through intersections.
The city reminded pedestrians, drivers and cyclists to obey traffic signs, signals and gates, to not stop on the tracks and to be patient.
“What you’re going to see is trains travelling faster, intersections performing the way they have been and the travel time slightly increased,” Deputy City Manager Adam Laughlin said.
According to the city, the lifting of the speed restriction is another step towards completing the signaling system for the LRT line, but the line is still not running at 100 percent.
The Metro LRT Line opened to commuters in September, 2015, after being delayed for nearly two years.
“We’re certainly frustrated we haven’t been able to work through this as quickly as we would have liked, I think we’ve highlighted the challenges we’re dealing with,” Laughlin said.
Since operations on the line began, the trains have been running using line of sight operations, and have not exceeded 25 kilometres an hour.
With files from Shanelle Kaul
