The first fully operational Light Rail Vehicle (LRV) for Edmonton’s Valley Line LRT left Bombardier’s plant in Kingston, Ont. Wednesday morning.
Over the next few weeks, it will travel across Canada by train on CN rail before arriving in Edmonton by the end of July.
“Bombardier Transportation is fully committed to deliver all 26 cars on time and budget,” Sue Heuman, a communications officer for TransEd, said.
READ MORE: Edmonton Valley Line LRT construction will cause traffic headache in 2018
The Valley Line from downtown to Mill Woods is expected to be operational by 2020.
This year, rail lines will go down, construction will begin on tunnels and bridges, even a light rail vehicle is scheduled to test the line by the summer.
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Edmonton’s new Valley Line will use different cars than those used in the city’s existing LRT system — a low-floor light rail vehicle.
TransEd says the Flexity Freedom model is the latest version of Bombardier’s modular LRV platform.
“It combines proven elements and innovations which make it the vehicle of choice for urban transportation,” Heuman said in an email to Global News.
READ MORE: Valley Line LRT mock-up car on display in Edmonton
These low-floor vehicles will carry up to 275 passengers along the Edmonton Valley Line.
The LRV will be on display in the Bonnie Doon Mall parking lot for four days so people can get a feel for its size and look. Then it will move to Gerry Wright Operations and Maintenance Facility to complete the final tests and start “dynamic testing on the mainline” nearer to the end of the year,” Heuman said.
She expects the first rail to start being installed at the end of July or early August.
— With files from Global’s Karen Bartko