NAIT/Blatchford Market station

NAIT/Blatchford Market station is an Edmonton LRT station in Edmonton, Alberta which serves as the northern terminus of the Metro Line.^[1] The station is located north of Princess Elizabeth Avenue, on the west side of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology and Brigadier James Curry Jefferson Armoury. The station was built after a long-term comprehensive land use plan of the Edmonton City Centre Airport lands were finalized.^[2][3][1]

NAIT/Blatchford Market
Edmonton LRT station
General information
Coordinates	53°34′01″N 113°30′33″W
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)
Services
Preceding station Edmonton LRT Following station Terminus Metro Line Kingsway/Royal Alex toward Health Sciences/Jubilee
Route map Legend Blatchford Gate NAIT/Blatchford Market Kingsway/Royal Alex MacEwan Capital Line to Clareview Churchill Valley Line to 102 Street and Mill Woods Central Bay/Enterprise Square Corona Government Centre Dudley B. Menzies Bridge over North Saskatchewan River University Health Sciences/Jubilee Capital Line to Century Park All stations are accessible This diagram: view talk edit

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.

History

NAIT
Former station
General information
Coordinates	53°33′58″N 113°30′21″W
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]

Preliminary engineering of the line was completed July 2009 and construction of the phase from the MacEwan 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 the Capital 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.

The new 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]

Future

In the future, the Metro Line will be extended by one station and Blatchford 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 of Blatchford, which is being built on the land of the former Edmonton 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]

Station layout

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 with side platforms instead of an island one.

Around the station

• Northern Alberta Institute of Technology
• Alberta Aviation Museum
• Kingsway Mall
• Former Edmonton City Centre Airport

Communities

• Blatchford
• Prince Rupert
• Spruce Avenue
• Westwood

References

1. "North LRT to NAIT". City of Edmonton. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011. Retrieved February 6, 2010.
2. "North LRT Fact Sheet" (PDF). City of Edmonton. February 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 1, 2012. Retrieved May 30, 2012.
3. "North LRT Stations". City of Edmonton. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
4. Ramsay, Caley (September 6, 2015). "After lengthy delay, Metro Line LRT opens to riders". Global News Edmonton. Retrieved September 6, 2015.
5. "2019 LRT Passenger Count Report" (PDF). City of Edmonton. April 2020. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
6. "Metro Line Delay FAQ" (PDF). City of Edmonton. October 8, 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 13, 2014. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
7. Heidenreich, Phil (March 25, 2019). "City of Edmonton to suspend LRT services to NAIT campus for 4 months". Global News. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
8. "Metro Line - Northwest Extension". City of Edmonton. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
9. Siemens, Nicole (January 16, 2024). "New NAIT LRT station ahead of schedule, opening of other Blatchford stop remains unclear". Global News. Corus Entertainment. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
10. "Blatchford Edmonton". Blatchford. Retrieved December 31, 2023.