The city of Edmonton, Alberta (Canada), has announced that three teams have been shortlisted for the Edmonton's new Light Rail Transit (LRT) PPP project.

The shortlisted teams are the following:

• MovingYEG includes: ACS Infrastructure Canada Inc., HOCHTIEF PPP Solutions North America, Inc., Meridiam Valley Line LRT ULC, Keolis S.A., Aecon Concessions, a Division of Aecon Construction Group Inc., Dragados Canada Inc., Flatiron Constructors Canada Limited, Aecon Infrastructure Management Inc., Keolis Canada Inc., Stantec Consulting Ltd., MMM Group Limited;

• River City Transit includes: SNC"Lavalin Capital Inc., SNC~Lavalin Constructors (Pacific) Inc., SNC"Lavalin Operations 8: Maintenance Inc., Kiewit Canada Development Corp, Kiewit Management Co, ALSTOM Transport Canada Inc., ALSTOM Transport SA; and

• TransEd Partners includes: Bechtel Canada Company, Bechtel Development Company, Fengate Capital Management Ltd., EllisDon Capital, EllisDon Civil, EllisDon Facility Services, Veolia Transportation, Inc., IBI Group, Bombardier Transportation Canada, Inc., Arup Canada Inc., American Bridge Canada Company.

The RFP is expected to be released in mid-September. Following its release, the three proponent teams will spend approximately 12 months preparing their proposals.

The project is anticipated to be approximately 13 km long extending from 102 Street Stop to Mill Woods Town Centre. Along the alignment there are 11 at-grade neighbourhood stops and one above-grade station at Davies Station. The line will integrate directly into existing communities, with an initial projected daily ridership of 31,500 passengers, increasing to 42,000 by 2044. The project will operate separately from the city's other existing LRT lines.

Key structures of the project include a tunnel connecting downtown Edmonton to the River Valley (approximately 0.5 km), a new river bridge crossing the North Saskatchewan River and an operations and maintenance facility.

The project involves the design, build, finance, operate and maintain (DBFOM) the new light rail transit project over a 30- year period.

The total value of the project is up to CAD$1.8 billion with CAD$600 million coming from the provincial government, and CAD$800 million from the city.

On 29 May 2014 we reported that the Canadian government had guaranteed up to CAD$150 million for the project. This additional funding came from the New Building Canada Fund - Provincial-Territorial Infrastructure Component. The Edmonton's new Light Rail Transit (LRT) will be the first project to receive funding from thist new fund.

This contribution, in addition to CAD$250 million already pledged by the federal government through the P3 Canada Fund, will bring the total federal contribution to the project to up to CAD$400 million.