Interesting quick note in this article on the 2023 construction season update. Wonder what the "challenges" are.


I feel like they are referencing the delay in re-opening Stony plain road due to the extra utility work. I’m not sure what else it could be, both OMF are progressing well, and so is the guideway and 2 stations. Weird that they aren’t releasing more information about it.
 
I feel like they are referencing the delay in re-opening Stony plain road due to the extra utility work. I’m not sure what else it could be, both OMF are progressing well, and so is the guideway and 2 stations. Weird that they aren’t releasing more information about it.
I also thought of SPR delays, as that does have pretty big impact. Probably have had a bunch of other more minor issues they've been working through, as expected on a major $2b infrastructure project.

Does otherwise seem like they're chugging along great. The SPR bridge sure seems to be coming along at a timely pace as well.
 
I also thought of SPR delays, as that does have pretty big impact. Probably have had a bunch of other more minor issues they've been working through, as expected on a major $2b infrastructure project.

Does otherwise seem like they're chugging along great. The SPR bridge sure seems to be coming along at a timely pace as well.
Agreed. I’m confident they will re open the bridge before fall 2024, barring any unforeseen setbacks. MIP seems to have learned a lot from the gaffs of the SE leg.
 
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About 30% of the steel has been erected at the OMF-B. If the weather continues to be warm, they should have about 50% erected by the end of the year. I believe this one is supposed to be larger than the SE one, but I may be wrong?
 
Took the 7:45pm train last night. Only 12 people on my train when we left Churchill, plus whoever was in the second car. Noticeably less busy than the train I took last Friday mid-evening. I'm hoping they can attract more than 144 passengers per direction per hour. I guess this isn't Vancouver where we're going to shatter 2030 ridership estimates in 2024.

This Andrew Knack blog post says 28,000-33,000 estimated initial daily boardings, climbing to 49,000 by 2044 for the SE leg.


These City Council notes say 128,000 Valley Line wide by 2047.


I tapped on at 102 St at 7:44 and tapped off at 8:06 at Davies. It's quick for what it is. I can see the entire journey from Mill Woods to Lewis Farms being slow compared to just driving down the Whitemud, but for those going to WEM for leisure, speed might not be priority? I'm looking forward to not dealing with looking for parking there.
 
Ridership probably isn't as high this week due to school reading weeks for both the U of A and MacEwan. I think the initial hype has died down to a degree as well. We'll probably also see another spike in ridership when some of the other bus routes that run parallel to the line end their service.

EDIT: The route also seems to attract more families/leisure trips than the Capital Line in my experience during the weekends as well. Not sure if that'll be the case in the coming weekends, but Muttart is a really good sell for people in Millwoods just wanting to visit the River Valley with their kids, etc.
 
Took the 7:45pm train last night. Only 12 people on my train when we left Churchill, plus whoever was in the second car. Noticeably less busy than the train I took last Friday mid-evening. I'm hoping they can attract more than 144 passengers per direction per hour. I guess this isn't Vancouver where we're going to shatter 2030 ridership estimates in 2024.

This Andrew Knack blog post says 28,000-33,000 estimated initial daily boardings, climbing to 49,000 by 2044 for the SE leg.


These City Council notes say 128,000 Valley Line wide by 2047.


I tapped on at 102 St at 7:44 and tapped off at 8:06 at Davies. It's quick for what it is. I can see the entire journey from Mill Woods to Lewis Farms being slow compared to just driving down the Whitemud, but for those going to WEM for leisure, speed might not be priority? I'm looking forward to not dealing with looking for parking there.
Very good point about parking. I never like driving to the three busier malls, there is parking but it can be challenging to find when busy. I remember one time circling around and waiting 10 to 15 minutes at WEM for a spot. Since then, I don't go there as much any more.
 
If I had a choice, I would never go to WEM. But kids, friends, and family inevitably want to go.

I didn't realize post-secondary schools were still in reading week. Looking forward to seeing busy trains again.
 
I shop at WEM about once a month.
Hint: I always park in the SE parkade near Home Sense.
You're welcome! :)
 
Took the 7:45pm train last night. Only 12 people on my train when we left Churchill, plus whoever was in the second car. Noticeably less busy than the train I took last Friday mid-evening. I'm hoping they can attract more than 144 passengers per direction per hour. I guess this isn't Vancouver where we're going to shatter 2030 ridership estimates in 2024.

This Andrew Knack blog post says 28,000-33,000 estimated initial daily boardings, climbing to 49,000 by 2044 for the SE leg.


These City Council notes say 128,000 Valley Line wide by 2047.


I tapped on at 102 St at 7:44 and tapped off at 8:06 at Davies. It's quick for what it is. I can see the entire journey from Mill Woods to Lewis Farms being slow compared to just driving down the Whitemud, but for those going to WEM for leisure, speed might not be priority? I'm looking forward to not dealing with looking for parking there.
I would imagine those south of Davis will opt for driving if it’s an option to access WEM be the valley line. The parking, especially around Christmas, is a decent sell for the train. But travel time will be a pretty big gap for any E/W travel in our city until traffic gets bad enough to make the whitemud inefficient beyond 30mins at 8 and 5. WFH isn’t helping transit ridership when congestion has dropped.

I think WEM will be awesome for tourism type ridership. West end and downtown see a lot more hotels/attractions than the SE line.
 

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