FAQs and resources

Infrastructure projects across North America are facing rising costs driven by inflation, supply-chain disruptions, market conditions and key skills shortages. Those pressures are impacting Green Line and all City infrastructure projects as identified in The City’s January 2024 Corporate Risk Report. To address the market conditions, the Green Line team is working closely with contractors on costs and industry experts to evaluate the project from station design to procurement strategy. 

As Calgary experiences extraordinary population growth, the need for Green Line will only grow. Along with extending LRT service to underserved communities in the southeast, Green Line supports other City plans and will unlock much-needed new housing options and transit-oriented development. It is forecasted to increase land values by $8 billion to $10 billion along the route and generate additional property taxes exceeding $200 million annually by 2038.

It is too early to provide a specific date. Main construction of Phase 1, is on track to begin in Fall 2024 and based on projects of similar size and scale, it should take approximately six years to complete construction. The construction schedule will be developed prior to the signing of the Project Agreement.

Phase 1 of Green Line is the largest infrastructure investment in Calgary’s history. It is a megaproject and requires the construction of stations, tracks, a tunnel downtown, multiple bridges and elevated guideways, a maintenance and storage facility for Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs), Park and Ride facilities and much more.

Comparing the scale and timeline to other LRT projects in Calgary:

• The first leg of Calgary’s LRT system spanned 12.5 kilometres from Anderson Station in the south to downtown with 16 stations and took four years to construct.
• The West LRT expansion from downtown to 69 Street Station spanned 8.2 kilometres of track, with six stations and took three years to construct.

Bow Transit Connectors (BTC) was announced as Green Line’s Development Partner in May 2023.  BTC brings shared expertise in underground, above-ground structures, and LRT design and construction to deliver Phase 1 of the Green Line LRT Project.

During the Development Phase, BTC is advancing design while the project cost, schedule and risk allocation are negotiated, prior to signing the Project Agreement in 2024 and beginning main construction. Their teams will be supported with local contractors, suppliers, and trades.

An early works program, currently underway, is being performed by PCL Construction, the third-party utilities (ENMAX, Telus, etc.) and Graham Construction. 

Low-floor LRVs are now the preferred choice for new LRT systems across North America because they offer improved accessibility, enhanced vehicle and pedestrian safety, and the ability to integrate easily into the community. 

With low-floor LRVs, train stations at street-level don’t need long ramps, stairs, or large platform structures. The low platforms are curb height (33 centimetres compared with 98 centimetres for high-floor trains), which allows for simpler station designs, resulting in cost savings when building the stations.

The Urbos 100 low-floor LRVs will operate exclusively on Green Line. Due to the low-floor design, the station platforms on the Red and Blue Lines are too high. There are also differences with the existing electrical network that prevents the Green Line LRVs from running on the Red and Blue lines.

The Green Line team is focused on delivering Phase 1 of Green Line from Shepard to Eau Claire. The Board is committed to managing costs and risks of Phase 1 and there is no timeline to make a decision on a recommendation to Council for Phase 2. 

It was determined in 2019 that the best option was to build an LRT bridge over the Bow River, connecting Eau Claire station to Crescent Heights. City Council approved this plan in 2020. However, this work is outside the scope of Phase 1 construction.

More information about the preliminary planning and design of the Bow River Bridge is here.

Phase 1 will not connect to YYC Calgary International Airport but there are plans for an Airport Transit Connector linking both the Green Line and Blue Line to the airport.  Visit our future extensions page for more information.

In July 2023, the City of Calgary announced a study to identify the optimal rail connection and alignment between downtown Calgary and the airport. The study will include a ridership review, and development and evaluation of different alignment scenarios. For more information, visit the Airport Transit Study page.

The Alberta government’s vision for a Passenger Rail Master Plan was announced in Spring 2024. It will require a strong intermodal transit network in Calgary to achieve its goals and the Green Line team is looking at opportunities to support this vision.