CANADA: The City of Edmonton has selected Hyundai Rotem as preferred bidder to supply 40 low-floor light rail vehicles for the C$2·6bn Valley Line West project.
Subject to final negotiations, the city expects to finalise the contract by December 2, with the first to be delivered in 2025. The order is valued at between C$260m and C$390m.
The 14 km Valley Line West is being funded by the province of Alberta and the Canadian government, as the second phase of a 27 km cross-city route. Contractor Marigold Infrastructure Partners began work on the line earlier this year.
As part of the TransEd group constructing Valley Line Southeast, Bombardier Transportation delivered 26 vehicles for the first section of the route. The Hyundai Rotem cars are expected to operate over both sections of the line to ensure a ‘seamless’ ride between Mill Woods and Lewis Farms.
An initial procurement for Valley Line West ran into problems in 2019 when two of the three shortlisted contenders withdrew. Following a review of risk allocation and discussions with industry partners, the city decided to separate the LRV procurement from the design, build and partially finance contract for the civil works.
Bidding was relaunched in November 2020, attracting eight bids. Three companies were shortlisted in March for the second stage, with the final bids being scored on both price and technical content. Hyundai Rotem was selected ahead of bids from Siemens Mobility and CAF.
‘We’re excited to have reached another significant project milestone’, said the City of Edmonton’s Valley Line Director Brad Smid when the decision was announced on November 10.
