2 groups of companies shortlisted to make bids to build first phase of Calgary's Green Line LRT

The city has determined that there are only two teams of companies qualified to bid to build the first section of Calgary's Green Line LRT, an 18-kilometre section from Shepard in the deep southeast to Eau Claire in downtown.

Two teams Bow City Connectors and City Link Partners have been invited to advance to the request for proposal (RFP) stage following a request for qualifications process, the city announced Friday.

These are the only two groups that threw their hats into the ring, but Green Line LRT CEO Darshpreet Bhatti says that's not a surprise for such a huge project.

"There's only a handful of companies out there that can do this, so we were never anticipating five to six submissions on a multibillion-dollar program," he said.

"In fact, that's been the experience in North America on, I would say, comparable projects that have recently or in the past five years gone out to market."

Bhatti says each of the two groups are consortiums of several companies, including firms that are experienced in building all aspects of the $5.5-billion megaproject, including a lengthy downtown LRT tunnel.

Bow Transit Connectors is made up of Barnard Constructors of Canada LP, Flatiron Constructors Canada Ltd.and WSP Canada Inc.

City Link Partners is composed ofAecon Infrastructure Management Inc., Dragados Canada Inc., Acciona Infrastructure Canada Inc., Parsons Inc.and AECOM Canada Ltd.

Bhatti said even though the groups of companies bidding are national and international, there will still be lots of work for smaller, Calgary-based companies as construction gets underway.

"They will rely, once we have selected one team to move forward with, on all the local subcontractors that are available to do the civil works, the system works landscaping, hauling soil, excavation," he said.

The formal request for proposals will be released later this year, and the winning bidder will be selected early next year. Construction is expected to begin in 2024.

"This is a very strong step for Green Line and speaks to the work done by the city to collaborate with industry to drive interest and investment," said Mayor Jyoti Gondek in a release.