SNC-Lavalin's consortium partners include Graham Building Services, International Bridge Technologies and Jacobs Associates Canada.
The two other bidders competing for the contract were EL Partners, a consortium of Bombardier and Genivar, and Kiewit/Flatiron Evergreen Line, which comprised Kiewit, Hochtief, and Stantec Consulting, Canada.
The 11km Evergreen Line will diverge from the existing Millennium Line at Lougheed Town Centre, running on viaduct through Burquitlam before entering a 2km tunnel. It will emerge east of Barnet highway, running at grade alongside the Canadian Pacific (CP) line towards Port Moody station, where there will be an interchange with bus and commuter rail services. Continuing east, a bridge will carry the line across the CP tracks, which it will follow through Ioco towards Coquitlam, where it will turn north onto a short elevated section to reach the terminus at Douglas College.
The line will provide a journey time of 40 minutes between Coquitlam and central Vancouver, compared with around 85 minutes by car. Trains will operate with a minimum headway of three minutes, and services will run 20 hours a day. The line is expected to carry around 70,000 passengers per day by 2021.
The British Columbia provincial government is contributing $C 583m and will also oversee construction of the project. The Canadian government is providing up to $C 417m, while TransLink is contributing $C 400m and will operate the Evergreen Line when it is complete.
Preliminary construction works are already underway and major construction work is expected to start next month. The line is due to open in mid-2016.
