Four-car CTrain service on Calgary’s Blue Line from 69th Street to Saddletowne began Monday meaning there will be on average, six four-car trains running on the Blue Line every week day.

The city says all the preparations have been successfully completed to ensure the Blue Line has the traction power necessary to service the longer trains.

“Four-car train service on the Blue Line is a welcome addition to our public transit service. This is another great step toward serving citizens of Calgary,” says Mayor Naheed Nenshi.

Four-car trains were introduced in late 2015 on the Red Line, which has nearly double the ridership than on the Blue Line and had enough traction power to accommodate four-car trains.

The longer trains can carry an additional 200 customers per trip with the capacity to carry 800 passengers per trip.

“Investments in public transit shorten commutes, decrease air pollution and allow Canadian to spend more time with their families” says Kent Hehr, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence. “These increases to the city’s CTrain service will help Calgarians get where they need to be quicker and more efficiently.”

The Government of Alberta provided $200 million for the 63 new CTrain cars;  $133 million from a Green Transit Incentives Program grant and $67 million from a Municipal Sustainability Initiative grant.

“The Government of Alberta is pleased to help make the Blue Line CTrain service even more accessible to make life better for Calgarians,” says Brian Mason, Alberta Minister of Transportation. “The CTrain is already among the best used LRT services anywhere in North America and we’re proud to make it an even more attractive option to get around the city.”

The Government of Alberta also provided $24 million in GreenTRIP funding and $20.2 million in MSI funding for traction power upgrades across the entire CTrain system to power the longer trains.

Calgary used $22.3 million of its Gas Tax Fund allocation for NE Station Refurbishment, which also includes expanding the platforms on the Blue Line to four-car train lengths.

Calgary’s CTrain system carries about 285,000 people every weekday making it one of the most successful LRT systems in North America.