Bidding begins for $475 million contract to build Surrey-Langley SkyTrain stations

Bidding process begins for $475 million contract to build Surrey-Langley SkyTrain's eight stations

Artistic rendering of 140 Street Station on the Expo Line's Surrey-Langley SkyTrain Extension. (TransLink)

There are more signs of movement in the project to build the 16 km Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension of the Expo Line.

The provincial government recently launched the bidding process seeking a private contractor to build all eight new additional stations.

The available budget for this contract value of building the stations is about $475 million.

This is the second of three separate major contracts to build the components of the SkyTrain extension.

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The first bidding process for the largest contract worth $1.1 billion for building the concrete elevated guideway and pillars began in August. Procurement for the third contract of electrical systems and track work — including automatic train control, and integration with the existing SkyTrain network — will start later this fall.

For the station construction contract, the selected contractor will be responsible for not only building the eight stations, but also the last 250-metre section of elevated guideway next to the terminus station of 203 Street in Langley Centre, power substations, station public plazas, and vehicle access and three bus exchanges serving 166 Street Station, 196 Street Station, and 203 Street Station.

Route alignment and station locations of the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain. (Government of BC)

Surrey-Langley SkyTrain 203 Street Station

Conceptual artistic depiction of 203 Street Station on the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain. (Government of BC)

Surrey-Langley SkyTrain 203 Street Station 2

Conceptual artistic depiction of 203 Street Station on the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain. (Government of BC)

The average contract cost of each new 80-metre-long station is about $59 million. In contrast, the cost of adding the smaller 50-metre-long Capstan Station to the existing Canada Line in Richmond is $52 million, although there are some key differences in each project’s scope, including the higher cost of building a station on an active line.

This procurement process for the station construction contract is currently in the request for qualifications (RFQ) stage, which will end in early January 2023. From the RFQ, up to three teams will be shortlisted and invited to submit detailed bids in the request for proposal (RFP) stage, which will lead to the selection of the winning contractor in December 2023.

The selected elevated guideway contractor for the first contract will be announced in September 2023.

Surrey-Langley SkyTrain 166 Street Station 2

Conceptual artistic depiction of 166 Street Station on the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain. (Government of BC)

Altogether, the total cost of this SkyTrain project is budgeted at $4.01 billion, but the combined total value of the three contracts will be less than this figure as it does not take into account government costs relating to internal planning and design work, hired consultants, geotechnical studies, pre-construction activities and utilities removal, and land acquisitions.

The provincial government states it is pursuing the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension under three separate contracts to increase competition amongst bidders — allowing smaller and local firms to pursue the smaller contracts, as opposed to the previous practice of awarding one big project contract to multinational entities. It is also believed this could lead to better overall cost control in the current market climate.

For instance, the single contract value for the Millennium Line Broadway Extension, currently under construction, is $1.73 billion to a joint partnership between Spanish engineering giant Acciona and Italian tunnelling firm Ghella. The Broadway Subway’s total cost is $2.83 billion.

The Millennium Line Evergreen Extension’s single contract value was $889 million out of the total budget of $1.4 billion. It was built by SNC-Lavalin.

SNC-Lavalin was also the main contractor for the Canada Line, but its contract is quite different with the inclusion of a 35-year operating and maintenance contract of the system under a public-private partnership.

Major construction activities on the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain are scheduled to begin in 2024 for a completion and opening by late 2028.

160 street station fraser highway surrey langley skytrain expo line 4

September 2020 artistic rendering of 160 Street Station on the Expo Line’s Surrey-Langley SkyTrain Extension. (TransLink)

Surrey-Langley SkyTrain 160 Street Station 2

Conceptual artistic depiction of 160 Street Station on the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain. (Government of BC)

Surrey-Langley SkyTrain 140 Street Station 2

Conceptual artistic depiction of 140 Street Station on the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain. (Government of BC)

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