Metro LRT open, but real test comes Tuesday morning

The real test of the city's Metro LRT line is yet to come.

After months of delays and much controversy, the new line officially opened Sunday, carrying its first passengers from the NAIT campus to downtown.

On Tuesday morning, with most students back in classrooms and commuters back on the job after the long weekend, the city will find out how well the new system holds up under normal work-day conditions.

The city's transportation manager Dorian Wandzura told CBC's Edmonton AM on Monday morningthat after 18 months of delays, he's happy the system is finally carrying passengers.

"We had a pretty good day one," said Wandzura, who rode the first train Sunday at 5:42 a.m., along with a few eager passengers who wanted to be part of that initial run.

For now, the trains will run at a 15-minute frequency.The original plan called for serviceevery 10 minutes, but ongoing problems with the signal system will keep trains running at less than capacity until the bugs are worked out.

Trains can travelno faster than 25 km/h until the signal system is fully operational.

The city has warned commuters that come Tuesday they can expect some major traffic delays on roads that cross the Metro tracks.

Wandzura said it's not unusual for traffic to bedisrupted when a newLRT line first opens, and noted there were problems when the Capital Line opened a few years ago.

He said he expects commuters will find new ways to get to and from work or school.

"People do adjust their travel patterns," he said. "So, people who know that, 'It takes me longer to go this route across an LRT track,' many make choices to take different routes."

The city will have staff out all week at major intersections near the Metro lineto monitor traffic patterns, he said.

Student Zubayr Chohan has closely followed the metro line saga and said he's pleased it's finally running.

"I'm happy it's finally here, it has been a good thing for this neighbourhood. I think it's a strength that it is finally here, but I just hope the congestion can get cleaned up a bit."