Capital Line

Capital Line
Capital Line crossing the North Saskatchewan River
Overview
Type	Light rail
Locale	Edmonton
Termini	Clareview Century Park
Stations	15
Operation
Opened	April 22, 1978
Operator(s)	Edmonton Transit System
Character	Surface line outside of city centre, subway style line under downtown and the UofA.
Depot(s)	D.L. MacDonald Yard
Technical
Line length	21 km (13.0 mi)
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Operating speed	70 KM/h maximum.
Route map

The Edmonton LRT Capital Line is a light rail transit line running from northeast Edmonton to the south. Operated by the Edmonton Transit System, the line provides access to Downtown Edmonton and the University of Alberta. The Capital Line currently consists of fifteen stations, six of which are underground. Seven stations are shared with the Metro Line.

On April 22, 1978 the line opened between Belvedere and Central stations. At the time (and for another 37 years) the system consisted solely of the single line. It was not named the Capital Line until 2012 when expansion plans were revealed for additional lines.

The 1980s were a decade of expansion for the Capital Line. It expanded northwards toward Clareview in 1981, and westwards toward Bay and Corona, under the downtown core in 1983. Another underground extension was completed in 1989 with the opening of Grandin Station.

One station opened in the 1990s, University, in August 1992. The underground station was connected to the downtown leg by the Dudley B. Menzies Bridge.

During the 2000s, under the mayorship of Stephen Mandel, the Capital Line was expanded southward. Health Sciences opened in 2006, the first new station in 14 years. In 2009, McKernan/Belgravia and South Campus opened, followed by Southgate and Century Park in 2010.