CANADA: Major construction works for the 16 km extension of Vancouver’s SkyTrain light metro Expo Line from King George in Surrey to 203 Street in Langley are set to begin this year, following the award of the guideway, stations and systems & trackwork contracts.
The SkyLink Guideway Partners consortium of Dragados Canada, Ledcor Investments and Ledcor Mining is to design, build and finance the elevated guideway and associated roadworks, utilities and active transport elements.
The South Fraser Station Partners consortium of Aecon Constructors, Acciona Infrastructure Canada and Pomerleau BC will build the eight stations.
The Transit Integrators BC consortium of AtkinsRéalis Major Projects, AtkinsRéalis Canada and Western Pacific Enterprises will design and build the systems and trackwork.
Announcing that all three contracts had been awarded, British Columbia’s Ministry of Transportation & Infrastructure said on August 15 that ‘like all public and private-sector infrastructure projects’, the extension is being delivered ‘during a time of significant market challenges’. The expected cost has risen from C$3·8bn in July 2021 to C$6bn now because of inflation, commodity escalation, supply chain pressures and labour market challenges.
The opening date has also been pushed back from late 2028 to late 2029 because of ‘significant market and industry changes’ since the business case was approved in 2022.
