EDMONTON'S NORTHEAST LIGHT-RAIL RAPID TRANSIT LINE

Edmonton's light-rail transit (LRT) line has a total length of 7.2 km, 1.6 km of which is in subway. The line goes from the central business district (CBD) to the northeast sector of the city and uses the Canadian National Railways right-of-way. The project was approved at $65 million and is currently below estimates as well as ahead of schedule. The LRT line is the result of a balanced transportation plan that was finally adopted in 1974 to serve a city of nearly 500,000. The subway portion has two underground stations with full mezzanine floors. The mezzanine floors are part of an overall pedestrian system and connect with the basements of adjacent buildings. The subway was built to accommodate the largest standard subway car. The equipment specifications for the 14 articulated cars were based on performance and proven reliability. The construction methods used caused a minimum of interference in the CBD. Since relatively small portions were let successively, local contractors were able to use proven techniques to handle the work on a fixed-price basis. Despite the severe inflation of 1975 and 1976, costs were kept within reasonable limits. The proposed service will provide 5-min headways in the peak hour, giving a capacity of 5000 passengers/h. At midday the headway will be 10 min. The LRT line will be fully integrated with the bus transit system, and timed transfers will be provided between bus and rail. The LRT line in Edmonton makes use of available opportunities and provides the least expensive solution to the transportation problems of the northeast sector and its rapid residential development. /Authors/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/sr/sr182/182-005.pdf
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/0360859X
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. This paper appeared in TRB Special Report No. 182, Light-Rail Transit: Planning and Technology.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board (TRB)

  Washington, DC   
• Authors:
  • MacDonald, D L
  • Bakker, J J
• Publication Date: 1978

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures;
• Pagination: pp 23-27
• Monograph Title: Light rail transit: planning and technology
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Board Special Report
  • Issue Number: 182
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0360-859X

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bus transit; Costs; Light rail transit; Passengers; Peak periods; Pedestrians; Performance; Railroad stations; Rapid transit; Subways; Transportation planning; Urban transportation
• Uncontrolled Terms: Articulated vehicles
• Geographic Terms: Edmonton (Canada)
• Old TRIS Terms: Bus transportation (Intracity)
• Subject Areas: Finance; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Passenger Transportation; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Railroads; Terminals and Facilities; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00301302
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Oct 17 1981 12:00AM