The Government of British Columbia has selected the consortium of companies that will be responsible for designing and building the eight new additional stations of SkyTrain Expo Line’s Surrey-Langley extension.
The team named today is South Fraser Station Partners, composed of Aecon Constructors, Acciona Infrastructure Canada, Pomerleau BC, and AECOM Canada.
The provincial government will now enter into contract negotiations with South Fraser Station Partners. From the outset of the bidding process, the provincial government estimated this particular contract — entailing the construction of the new stations, bus exchanges, station plazas, adjacent pedestrian and cycling paths, and a 250-metre-long tail track at the Langley City Centre terminus — is valued at $475 million.
Acciona, one of the main companies in the consortium, is also the provincial government’s primary contractor for SkyTrain’s Millennium Line Broadway Extension, the new Pattullo Bridge, and the Site C hydroelectric dam. It was previously the contractor for the maligned North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Aecon is involved in some of Canada’s largest rapid transit projects currently under construction, including Eglinton Crosstown LRT in Toronto and the REM rail transit network in Montreal.
Interestingly, the selected consortium of South Fraser Station Partners does not include a traditional architectural design company for the design work of the stations, which was a previous practice for the station design work of the Canada Line and the Millennium Line’s Evergreen Extension and Broadway Extension. For instance, the current Broadway Extension project uses architectural firms DIALOG and Arcadis (formerly known as IBI Group) for the design work of the subway stations.
AECOM’s architectural design division is expected to design the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain’s eight new stations. AECOM’s previous multidisciplinary work includes the Edmonton Valley Line, Ottawa Confederation Line, and Montreal REM.
South Fraser Station Partners was one of two bids shortlisted by the provincial government for consideration for this particular contract. The unsuccessful bid was a team comprising Dragados, Ledcor, Systra International Bridge Technologies, and Arcadis.
South Fraser Station Partners will now begin early works on the project, including pre-construction site surveys, relocating utilities, geotechnical station, and station design work. The provincial government reaffirmed today that major construction activities on this SkyTrain extension reaching Langley City Centre will begin later in 2024.
Moving away from the previous procurement practice of selecting one team to be responsible for all aspects of design and construction for a SkyTrain extension, the provincial government divided the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain project into three smaller contracts. The second contract focuses on the construction of the 16-km-long elevated guideway along Fraser Highway (previously valued at $1.1 billion), and the third contract focuses on the SkyTrain rails, power, telecommunications, and automatic train control (valued at $700 million).
Map of the official station names of the eight new stations on the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension of the Expo Line. (Government of BC)
Artistic rendering of Clayton Station on the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension of the Expo Line. (Government of BC)
Based on previous estimates, the combined value of the three contracts is about $2.3 billion, representing 57% of the total $4 billion overall project cost, which includes non-contractor costs such as land and property acquisitions, geotechnical testing, and pre-design and planning work.
In March 2024, the provincial government selected the consortium called SkyLink Guideway Partners to fulfill the elevated guideway contract. This separate team comprises Dragados, Ledcor, and Systra International Bridge Technologies, which is the same makeup that was not selected for the station contract.
If all goes as planned, the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension will reach completion and open in late 2028.
Construction on the Millennium Line Broadway Extension to Arbutus is expected to reach completion and open in early 2026.
With the Millennium Line and Expo Line extensions combined, by 2028, the entire SkyTrain network will grow to a size of over 100 km.