NAIT/Blatchford Market | |||||||||||
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| General information | |||||||||||
| Coordinates | 53°34′01″N113°30′33″W / 53.5670°N 113.5092°W /53.5670; -113.5092 | ||||||||||
| Owned by | City of Edmonton | ||||||||||
| Platforms | Side platforms | ||||||||||
| Tracks | 2 | ||||||||||
| Construction | |||||||||||
| Structure type | Surface | ||||||||||
| Bicycle facilities | Yes | ||||||||||
| Accessible | Yes | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
| Opened | January 20, 2024 (2024-01-20) | ||||||||||
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NAIT/Blatchford Market station is anEdmonton LRT station inEdmonton,Alberta which serves as the northern terminus of theMetro Line.[1] The station is located north ofPrincess Elizabeth Avenue, on the west side of theNorthern Alberta Institute of Technology and Brigadier James Curry Jefferson Armoury. The station was built after a long-term comprehensive land use plan of theEdmonton City Centre Airport lands were finalized.[2][3][1]
NAIT station opened in 2015 at a temporary location until it was renamed and relocated approximately 200 metres northwest, to its permanent location on January 20, 2024.
NAIT | |||||
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| General information | |||||
| Coordinates | 53°33′58″N113°30′21″W / 53.5660°N 113.5058°W /53.5660; -113.5058 | ||||
| System | Former station | ||||
| Owned by | City of Edmonton | ||||
| Platforms | Centre platform | ||||
| Tracks | 2 | ||||
| Construction | |||||
| Structure type | Surface | ||||
| Bicycle facilities | Yes | ||||
| Accessible | Yes | ||||
| History | |||||
| Opened | September 6, 2015[4] | ||||
| Closed | January 20, 2024 | ||||
| Passengers | |||||
| 2019 (typical weekday) | 2,931 board 2,864 alight 5,795 Total[5] | ||||
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Preliminary engineering of the line was completed July 2009 and construction of the phase from theMacEwan station to NAIT began in the summer of 2011. The station was supposed to open in 2014.[6] However, due to delays it opened on September 6, 2015.[4]
The station was closed for four months from April 28 to August 30, 2019 due to construction on theCapital Line which shares track with southern sections of the Metro Line.[7] Because of delays that the construction caused, Edmonton Transit operated five car trains on the Metro Line.[7] Since the NAIT station island platform was only three cars long, these larger trains were unable to fit alongside the platform, hence the temporary closure.
NAIT/Blatchford Market station was constructed between 2020 and late 2023.[8] The original NAIT station closed on January 20, 2024, following the opening of NAIT/Blatchford Market station on the same day.[9]
In the future, the Metro Line will be extended by one station andBlatchford Gate will replace NAIT/Blatchford Market as the northern terminus of the line.
The two new stations are being constructed in response to the planned community ofBlatchford, which is being built on the land of the formerEdmonton City Centre Airport. The redevelopment of the old airport caused the original plan of two stations to be delayed, which resulted in the creation of a temporary station to service NAIT.[10]
NAIT/Blatchford Market station is an outdoors at-grade station. Unlike other stations on the high floor Edmonton LRT, NAIT/Blatchford Market station was built withside platforms instead of an island one.
