Bidding begins for $700M trackwork contract for Surrey-Langley SkyTrain

Bidding begins for $700 million trackwork contract for Surrey-Langley SkyTrain

Track of SkyTrain Millennium Line's Evergreen Extension near Burquitlam Station. (Bill Kingsland/YouTube screenshot)

Bidding has begun for the third and final contract to build the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension of the Expo Line.

The provincial government announced today it has commenced the request for qualifications (RFQ) process for the electrical systems and trackwork contract, which includes the design and installation of the SkyTrain rails, and the design, installation, and integration of power, telecommunications, and automatic train control.

The RFQ will end on January 23, which will lead to the selection of a shortlist of up to three teams for the invitation to participate in the detailed bidding process under the subsequent request for proposals (RFP) stage. Through the RFP, the successful contractor for this particular contract will be selected by the end of 2023.

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The value of this electrical systems and trackwork contract is $700 million, making it the second largest contract for the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain project in terms of value.

This also brings the total contract value of the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain to $2.285 billion out of the total $4.01 billion project cost.

The figure of the $2.285 billion only accounts for the value of the three private contracts combined, while the overall $4.01 billion figure accounts for both private contract values and the investments made by governments on other major costs such as preliminary planning, geotechnical testing, and land acquisitions.

The provincial government began the bidding process for the first two contracts earlier this year — the separate procurements of the $1.1 billion contract to build the 16-km-long concrete elevated guideway and pillars began in early August, and the $475 million contract to build the eight additional stations began in early October.

The provincial government states it’s 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 only multinational entities capable of such large contracts. 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.

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

Major construction work on the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension of the Expo Line along Fraser Highway from the existing King George Station to Langley Centre will begin in 2024. If all goes as planned, the extension could open in late 2028.

It will take about 22 minutes to travel between the terminus of 203 Street Station in Langley Centre to the existing King George Station in Surrey City Centre. The extension’s ridership is forecast to reach 56,000 boardings per day in 2028, 64,000 per day in 2035, and 80,000 in 2050.

As a separate project, TransLink also has plans to build a significant operations and maintenance hub near the Langley end of the Expo Line to serve both the extension and provide overall storage and maintenance capacity to the SkyTrain network and the long-term growth of its train fleet.

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