Train testing resumes on Valley Line Southeast LRT, TransEd anticipates fall opening

The Valley Line Southeast LRT will open this fall, according to the company building the project, but an opening date has yet to be announced.

"We expect passenger service to be this fall," TransEd spokesman Dallas Lindskoog said at a news conference on Thursday morning.

Lindskoog said the replacement of cables along the 13 kilometres of line is now complete, and train testing has resumed.

"Over the next few weeks trains will operate along the alignment for the entire 13 kilometres and they will mimic regular passenger service and that will demonstrate to the city and the certifiers that the Valley Line Southeast LRT is ready to open," Lindskoog commented.

The company announced in June the cables would need to be replaced before the line opened, but insisted the cable issue was not a delay.

Lindskoog said concurrent with the cable replacement, the company submitted the documentation required by the independent certifiers who will sign off on the line before it can open for passenger service.

"The auditors still want to see the trains running for a few weeks to complete their process," he said.

"When that certification is complete in a few weeks, we'll come back and provide some more info about that opening date."

The city issued a written statement about the independent certification of the line.

"Large-scale infrastructure projects are complex and require a great deal of oversight to manage operational challenges, as witnessed by the ongoing issues facing other municipalities. Safety and system reliability continue to be top priorities for all parties involved. We get one chance to open this system properly, and the city and TransEd are taking all necessary steps to ensure the line can open for safe and reliable service as soon as possible," spokeswoman Jyllian Park wrote.

"The city and TransEd are working closely together, and Valley Line Southeast is anticipated to open in fall 2023, as final testing and independent certifications occur."

It's the latest chapter for the line from downtown to Mill Woods, which has been plagued by years of delays.

It was originally scheduled to open in 2020, but the project was pushed back after a "large concrete mass" was discovered in the North Saskatchewan riverbed in 2018 under the Tawatinâ Bridge.

Further delays in 2021 were caused by absenteeism and supply chain issues, according to TransEd.

In the summer of 2022, cracks were found in 30 piers along the line.

Repairs on the piers were completed in December.

TransEd is contractually responsible for the financial fallout of the delays, as well as for operating and maintaining the line for the next three decades.

As train testing resumes, TransEd is reminding Edmontonians to be safe around the line.

"As the Valley Line Southeast is a low-floor, urban-style mode of transit, it will not use warning bells and crossing gates, and trains will behave differently at intersections than the current LRT," a Thursday news release from TransEd noted. "This means Edmontonians should be vigilant and carefully follow all traffic rules and signage around the new line."