Two teams shortlisted to design and build Surrey-Langley SkyTrain stations

Two teams shortlisted to design and build Surrey-Langley SkyTrain's stations

September 2020 artistic rendering of 152 Street Station on the Expo Line's Surrey-Langley SkyTrain Extension. (TransLink)

The provincial government announced Monday it has selected two teams to enter into the detailed bidding process to design and build the eight new stations of SkyTrain Expo Line’s Surrey-Langley Extension project.

The preliminary bidding process of request for qualifications (RFQ) seeking interest began in October 2022, and the shortlist of pre-qualified consortium teams now commences the request for proposals (RFP) process.

The provincial government’s available budget for the station construction contract is $475 million, which includes building station public plazas, the last 250-metre section of elevated guideway next to the terminus station of 203rd Street in Langley Centre, power substations, and three bus exchanges serving 166th Street Station, 196th Street Station, and 203rd Street Station.

You might also like:

One shortlisted team is called South Fraser Station partners, led by Aecon Infrastructure Management and Acciona Infrastructure Canada, and also entails Pomerleau BC and AECOM Canada.

Acciona is the main contractor for the ongoing construction project to build SkyTrain Millennium Line’s Broadway Extension project to Arbutus.

Both Acciona and Aecon are joint partners in the ongoing construction project to build a new replacement Pattullo Bridge.

Aecon is also 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.

The second shortlisted team, called Skylink Stations Partners, entails Dragados Canada, Ledcor Construction Investments, Systra International Bridge Technologies, and IBI Group Architects. Lead firm Dragados Canada’s portfolio includes the Confederation Line in Ottawa and the Eglinton Crosstown LRT.

The same firms leading both consortiums are also vying for the larger $1.1 billion contract to build the 16-km-long concrete elevated guideway for the project.

In January 2023, the provincial government selected two consortiums to proceed into the RFP bidding process for the elevated concrete guideway, including South Fraser Guideway Connectors (comprised of Aecon, Acciona, Pomerleau BC, and Parsons) and SkyLink Guideway Partners (comprised of Dragados Canada, Ledcor, and Systra).

Typically, SkyTrain extension projects are awarded to a single contractor or consortium, which then subcontracts the various project components to other companies.

The provincial government previously explained that its unique approach to implementing Surrey-Langley SkyTrain by dividing it into three separate major contracts will “increase bid competition and enable more local companies to bid on different elements of the project.”

Route alignment 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)

The provincial government will announce its selected contractors for the elevated guideway contract in late 2023, and the station contract in early 2024.

The third contract, worth $700 million, for designing and installing SkyTrain rails, power, telecommunications, and automatic train control is currently still in the RFQ stage. The provincial government is expected to announce its shortlisted consortiums soon, with the aim of selecting the contractor by late 2023.

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.

The provincial government has indicated major construction activities are expected to begin in 2024 for completion and opening 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.

You might also like: