Canadian construction services firm EllisDon and consultancy AECOM have formed a partnership dubbed Prairie Link to progress plans for a C$9 billion (US$7.2 billion) high speed line from Edmonton via Red Deer to Calgary in Alberta, Canada.

The partnership has proposed the project through the government of Alberta’s Unsolicited Proposal (USP) Framework, and secured a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) from Alberta Transportation, laying the foundation to cooperatively advance the development of the project.

“The notion of high-speed rail—a proven technology around the world—connecting Edmonton, Red Deer and Calgary in Alberta is not new, but we believe that its time has come,” said Jeffrey Hansen-Carlson, Director of EllisDon Capital and Project Director for Prairie Link. “We have built a team with both the capacity and faith in the future of our province to advance it in a meaningful way for Albertans.”

“Since this is a private-sector initiative, it is very important to us that we continue to maintain positive and solution-orientated day-to-day relationships with the great people that work for the government of Alberta,” said Joey Comeau, COO and Executive Vice-President of EllisDon Capital and Chair of the Board for Prairie Link.

The Prairie Link team has already commenced Indigenous engagement and established an advisory committee to guide project development.

“We are committed to the generational prosperity of our Indigenous partners,” Hansen-Carlson said. “We are committed to the regional prosperity of Edmonton, Red Deer and Calgary, as well as each county in between. We are also committed to supporting the growth and development of both international airports in Alberta.”

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