Commuters board a train at the new Century Park LRT station Monday. (CBC)Edmonton commuters were able to use the newly-opened Century Park and Southgate LRT stations for the first time Monday morning to get to their jobs.

The two new stations, which extend the south LRT line all the way to 23rd Avenue, opened to the public on Saturday.

"I think most people are pretty excited about it," said commuter Jennifer Wilde. "You'll get people downtown faster in the morning, so sleeping in might be an option for people."

"Going downtown in general is so much quicker so it's really good," said Jonathan Jagt, adding there was no confusion in using the new stations. "I'm really looking forward to using it on a daily basis."

Edmonton Transit altered or eliminated some of its bus routes to accommodate the new LRT stations. However, with the exception of a stalled escalator at the Century Park stations and some packed trains, city transit officials say the morning commute went off without a hitch.

They plan to have the escalator fixed at Century Park in time for the ride back home Monday afternoon. There was also a problem with the lowering of traffic arms at the intersection of 51st Avenue and 111th Street, which officials are also looking into.

The opening of the Southgate and Century Park stations mark the completion of the south LRT extension, which has been gradually expanding south from the University station over the past four years.

The Health Sciences station opened in 2006, followed three years later by the opening of the McKernan-Belgravia and South Campus stations in April 2009.