FAQs and resources

On January 28, 2025, Calgary City Council voted yes on getting shovels in the ground this year in the southeast and beginning analysis on a Functional Plan for the Province’s concept for the downtown (view here). This decision reflects months of work with the Province of Alberta on a path forward for the largest infrastructure investment in Calgary’s history.  

Concurrent to construction starting in the southeast, The City will begin work on a Functional Plan required for the Downtown Segment to advance design, validate the Province’s cost estimates, understand potential impacts to existing infrastructure and ensure the project is broadly supported by Calgarians prior to starting construction. This work was identified by the Province as outstanding, and the responsibility of The City to undertake. 

The City will now work with the Government of Alberta and Government of Canada on approval of the updated Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) business case to ensure all previous funding commitments can be realized and invested into Calgary’s future. 

Calgary City Council has approved the work required to advance work on the Downtown Segment, that is only at 5% design completion. 

The Functional Plan will include advancing design, validating the cost estimate from the Province, delivering the impact analysis studies including impact to existing infrastructure, businesses, flood mitigation, noise and vibration, property and traffic modeling that are required before construction can begin and ensuring the project is broadly supported by Calgarians.

The Green Line LRT has more than $6B in funding commitments from all three orders of government. The Province has confirmed their estimate to construct the SE and Downtown Segments will be $6.2B, and through the Functional Plan the estimate will be validated.

Approximately $1.4 billion has spent which includes land acquisition, early works construction projects such as utility relocations, landfill remediations and initial bridge structures, the procurement of 28 new low floor light rail vehicles and the planning, due diligence and design that brought a Phase 1 from Shepard in the southeast to Eau Claire downtown to a 60% design.

The Green Line LRT will bring many benefits to Calgarians, including those who won't use it. Some benefits include:

• Reducing greenhouse gases by 26,750 tonnes annually
• Shifting 4.8 million trips from vehicles to transit each year
• Easing congestion on roads and existing transit service
• Creating 20,000 direct and indirect jobs during construction
• Spurring residential and commercial development, including opportunities for 114,000 new housing units within 800m of stations

Visit our benefits page for more details.

It is too early to provide a specific date. Based on projects of similar size and scale, it should take approximately six years to build. The construction schedule will be shared on the website once it is established.

Phase 1 of Green Line is the largest infrastructure investment in Calgary’s history. It is a megaproject and requires the construction of stations, tracks, multiple bridges and elevated guideways, a maintenance and storage facility for Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs), Park and Ride facilities and much more.

Comparing the scale and timeline to other LRT projects in Calgary:

• The first leg of Calgary’s LRT system spanned 12.5 kilometres from Anderson Station in the south to downtown with 16 stations and took four years to construct.
• The West LRT expansion from downtown to 69 Street Station spanned 8.2 kilometres of track, with six stations and took three years to construct.

Bow Transit Connectors (BTC) was announced as Green Line’s Development Partner in May 2023.  BTC brings shared expertise in underground, above-ground structures, and LRT design and construction to deliver Phase 1 of the Green Line LRT Project.

During the Development Phase, BTC is advancing design while the project cost, schedule and risk allocation are negotiated. Their teams will be supported with local contractors, suppliers, and trades.

An early works program, currently underway, is being performed by PCL Construction, the third-party utilities (ENMAX, Telus, etc.) and Graham Construction. 

Low-floor LRVs are now the preferred choice for new LRT systems across North America because they offer improved accessibility, enhanced vehicle and pedestrian safety, and the ability to integrate easily into the community. 

With low-floor LRVs, train stations at street-level don’t need long ramps, stairs, or large platform structures. The low platforms are curb height (33 centimetres compared with 98 centimetres for high-floor trains), which allows for simpler station designs, resulting in cost savings when building the stations.

The Urbos 100 low-floor LRVs will operate exclusively on Green Line. Due to the low-floor design, the station platforms on the Red and Blue Lines are too high. There are also differences with the existing electrical network that prevents the Green Line LRVs from running on the Red and Blue lines.

It was determined in 2019 that the best option was to build an LRT bridge over the Bow River, connecting Eau Claire station to Crescent Heights. City Council approved this plan in 2020. However, this work is outside the scope of Phase 1 construction.

More information about the preliminary planning and design of the Bow River Bridge is here.

Phase 1 will not connect to YYC Calgary International Airport but there are plans for an Airport Transit Connector linking both the Green Line and Blue Line to the airport.  Visit our future extensions page for more information.

In July 2023, the City of Calgary announced a study to identify the optimal rail connection and alignment between downtown Calgary and the airport. The study will include a ridership review, and development and evaluation of different alignment scenarios. For more information, visit the Airport Transit Study page.

Yes. It is a requirement for Provincial funding to ensure that the Event Centre Station is integrated into their plans for the future Grand Central Station. 

The phased approach to deliver the entire 46-kilometre vision for Green Line provides the backbone for future LRT expansions to the south and north, regional transportation links and opportunities identified in the Alberta Passenger Rail Master Plan. Green Line is an essential element of several Council-approved long-term strategies - The City’s RouteAhead 30-year Strategic Plan for Transit in Calgary, Municipal Development Plan and Calgary Transportation Plan, Greater Downtown Plan, Housing Strategy and 2020 Sustainability Direction and Council Priorities.