The system, which includes 12.3 km of track (4.7 km of them underground) and 10 stations, was touted to grow in tandem with the growing city. It was to be part of a grand transit system that would entice citizens out of their cars and into an environmental friendly, more efficient alternative. But dillying and dallying by decision makers and a decision to go underground rather than at grade bogged down the growth for LRT.

Critics say the city should have built the entire line above ground, as Calgary did, instead of tunnelling under the feet of downtown. Now Calgarys LRT, which began operations in 1981, has 32 kms of track and 32 stations.

But theres no point crying over spilt milk and, looking back over the quarter century, theres no doubt that Edmontons LRT, despite delays and political indifference, ranks as one of the citys greatest achievements of the 20th century. Running the LRT underground has freed up more space on downtown streets and, in the cold winters, offers riders a climate controlled and more hospitable environment.

The story of the LRT line, declared officially open when then mayor Terry Cavanagh drove the first train out of Cromdale station on April 22, 1978, goes back more than 15 years before then. During 1962, the city contracted Canadian Bechtel Limited to look at transportation alternatives and rapid transit was one of the solutions their report offered. The document proposed lines that would reach north to Northgate, west to Jasper Place and West Edmonton, south to Southgate, southeast into Bonnie Doon, northeast towards Belvedere and Clareview and even northwest to St. Albert.

The citys transportation planners and Edmonton Transit wanted a solution that would attract riders, be cost effective and offer the least environmental impact. After transportation and transit officials visited Europe, light rail transit emerged as the favoured alternative.

In 1973, city officials were presented with a report that proposed an LRT line and encouraged them to approach the federal and provincial governments for support. When the city was awarded the 1978 Commonwealth Games, the favoured alignment along the former Canadian National Railways right of way between downtown and Belvedere, quicky made all the more sense.

For the cars, Edmonton Transit looked at manufacturers in Canada, the United States and abroad before deciding to order the Siemens/DuWag U2 model from Germany. The first order of 14 cars 1001 to 1014 was transported by ship to the Port of Vancouver and then brought by rail to Edmonton for assembly. The first shipment arrived on April 11th, 1977.

To help reduce the duty on the cars, the cars were delivered as shells so that the interiors and articulation joints, among other features, were assembled with Canadian content parts. With their twin 600 volt DC traction motors (one at each end), a power consumption of 3.7 kilowatts per vehicle kilometre and quiet operation (72dB at 25 metres distance), the cars are powerful, efficient and neighbour friendly. They can travel in either direction, as each end is fitted with drivers controls.

The 24.4 metre long cars, 2.65 metres wide, have seating for 64 passengers and comfortable room for 97 more people standing and up to 250 total in what is known as crush loads. Edmontons U2 cars were ordered with the wheelchair accessibility option, which provided seatbelts on the back of two of the seats.

In 1980, three more cars were purchased and the following year, the line was extended to the Clareview Station. In 1983, another 20 new cars entered service to handle the loads for the World Universiade Games.

At the same time, the system was extended westward from Central Station to two more stops Bay and Corona stations. In the mid-1980s, there was a push to run the LRT across the upper deck of the High Level Bridge, but the city and the CPR, owners of the bridge, couldnt agree on a price. And so the city built Grandin Station, which opened in 1989. Work soon began on a tunnel to the river valley and a crossing of the North Saskatchewan River to another tunnel under the University of Alberta. The project was the first in North America to utilize the New Austrian Tunnel Method (NATM), which allowed precise reaction to changing soil conditions.

It was a good thing. The giant mechanical mole burrowing the tunnel south of Grandin Station ran into a seam of ultra-fine sand, 130 metres thick.

Engineers devised a system to inject cement bentonite down three inch wide holes drilled 17 metres from the surface. The mixture was forced into the flour-like sand at 7,000 pounds per square inch, forming a weak concrete pile that held together sufficiently for the mole to cut. The tunnelling was so difficult, often only one metre was achieved a day.

Other challenges over the years have included leaking roofs on the Central and Churchill Stations and a dangerous configuration at the Belvedere Station, which was resolved with a new station three trains began running across the newly constructed $13.3 million Dudley B. Menzies Bridge in 1992, as the University of Alberta Station opened. Overnight, daily ridership rose from 24,000 to 36,000. Now the line serves more than 39,000 passengers on an average weekday.

Among their design innovations, the newest tunnels feature an innovative system for waterproofing. A pipe cast in the bottom of the tunnel with drains about a metre apart are designed to remove any groundwater that runs in against the concrete sleeve.

The Dudley B. Menzies Bridge was the first in Western Canada to use pre-cast concrete segments and, when it was built, was the longest span of its type in North America. The span was recognized by the Alberta Chapter of the American Concrete Industry for excellence in design and construction of concrete.

A quarter century after it began serving Edmonton, the LRT is reaching now for the daylight and, as it reaches grade and begins an earnest push southward, it holds the promise of serving more riders in the years ahead. The South LRT Extension to the Health Sciences Station is to open in 2005.

Heres hoping expansion in the next 25 years goes faster than the first 25.

If you'd like to offer your thoughts, please drop me an email at lawrenceherzog@hotmail.com. For information on reprints of previously published articles, check out my website at www.lawrenceherzog.com