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The winning bid to build and run Edmonton’s Valley Line LRT was $500 million under budget.

City administration initially estimated it would cost $2.7 billion to build, maintain and operate the 13-kilometre line between downtown and Mill Woods for 30 years.

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The bid by TransED Partners came in at $2.2 billion, Adam Laughlin, general manager of infrastructure services, said Thursday. Most of the savings are on the operations side. Edmonton had estimated capital costs for the line would be $1.8 billion.

“Wow. That’s a competitive bid. Is this an early April Fool’s prank?” asked Coun. Andrew Knack, stunned when he heard the figure. “I’m very pleasantly surprised.”

Coun. Ben Henderson said that’s “a lot more than I thought it would be. I guess that’s why you do a competition. Obviously, it’s good news.”

Edmonton received three competitive bids through its tendering process, which was overseen by an arm’s-length LRT governance board. All three bids met the technical design requirements. The contract signed in February was with a partnership led by Bechtel, Bombardier, EllisDon and Fengate Capital Management.

Because the savings are mostly from operations, the low bid doesn’t mean Edmonton suddenly has a pot of money on the shelf, Laughlin said.