December 4, 2018
Time is up for Thales to complete work on the Metro Line signalling system and the City will now begin to evaluate their work.
Thales Canada Inc. committed to the December 4, 2018, deadline after the City issued them with a Notice of Default on May 1, 2018.
“It’s pencils down for Thales today,” said Adam Laughlin, Deputy City Manager, Integrated Infrastructure Services. “They may be confident in their work, but we have to do our own due diligence to determine if Thales has passed and has met their contractual obligations. It’s important to ensure that the City — and all Edmontonians — has the signalling system that we asked for and were promised.”
The City expects it will take a number of months to complete the evaluation, which will include a review of documentation and field testing. Most of the field testing will take place outside of service hours in order to minimize impacts to Edmonton Transit Service customers, motorists and pedestrians. The City anticipates there will be one and a half days of system-wide LRT closures each month to accommodate testing. These closures will take place on low-service days. Special events will also be a key consideration.
The Metro Line will continue to operate as is, with trains running between Century Park and NAIT stations on a 15-minute schedule. Capital Line trains will continue running between Century Park and Clareview stations on a 5-5-10 minute peak hour schedule.
The Metro Line began operating with restrictions on September 6, 2015, and has more than 19,000 riders per weekday.
