SkyTrain

The SkyTrain is a light rail rapid transit system serving Metro Vancouver, British Columbia. The system runs mainly on elevated track and is fully automated. Stations are monitored by attendants.

The Expo Line and Millennium Line are operated by the British Columbia Rapid Transit Company, a TransLink operating company. The Canada Line is operated by Protrans BC, a private company, and is operationally separate from the other lines.

History

By the 1970s, traffic congestion had become a problem in Vancouver and rapid transit was increasingly seen as a solution. By the end of the 1970s, the Urban Transportation Development Corporation (UTDC), an Ontario crown coporation, was perfecting its Intermediate Capacity Transit System (ICTS). It was designed to be lighter and smaller (and therefore cheaper to build and run) than a full-fledged heavy-rail subway, but capable of higher capacities and shorter headways than a streetcar line. On May 29, 1981, signed a contract with UTDC for an ICTS system.

A short, 1 km section of track/guidway and a station (Main Street-Science World) were built and operated in the summer of 1983 as an early demonstration of the ICTS system. This was later integrated into a 15-station line (Waterfront to New Westminster) that was a showpiece for Expo '86. The line opened in with a soft launch on December 11, with full revenue service commencing on January 3, 1986. Known as the Expo Line, it was extended a short distance in 1989 further into New Westminster with a new station at Columbia - and extended again across the Fraser River to Scott Road in 1990. The line was extended further with three new stations into Surrey to King George Boulevard, its present eastern terminus, in 1994.

In 1995, Premier Mike Harcourt announced that a street-level light rail line would be built along Broadway and Lougheed Highway to Coquitlam Centre. Not long into the plan's study, the government announced that the line would become an ICTS line that ran between Broadway Station and Lougheed Mall. The line shares its route with the Expo Line to Columbia Station, where it diverges north and then turns back west. Called the Millennium Line, it opened in phases with the first phase on January 7, 2002 and second phase on August 31 of that year. A short extension to its current terminus at VCC-Clark opened on January 6, 2006. The fleet was expanded with next-generation ICTS, know known as Advanced Rapid Transit (ART), vehicles.

A SkyTrain line to the airport, that also served Richmond, was announced by BC Transit minister Joy McPhail in 1998. He suggested that the new line could be part of a bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics. It was decided in 2005 to build the line through a public-private partnership. InTransitBC, a consortium headed by SNC-Lavalin, was awarded the contract on July 29, 2005 to design, build, and operate the line. Initially referred to as the R.A.V Line (Richmond-Airport-Vancouver) and later-named the Canada Line, it opened on August 17, 2009 ahead of schedule and ahead of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Unlike the rest of the SkyTrain network, the Canada Line does not use ICTS/ART technology. This was stipulated in the request for proposals so as to not give Bombardier an advantage.

In mid-2013, construction began on the next extension of the Millennium Line. Referred to as the Evergreen Line from the very first plans of the new route, it is now referred to as a mere extension of the existing Millennium Line. When this route opens in November 2016 it will add a new station in North-East Burnaby, a new station in Port Moody, and four new stations in the city of Coquitlam to the Millennium Line. The Expo Line portion of the Millennium Line will become the Expo Line alone - giving the Expo Line two branches; The first branch running to King George through Surrey, and the second branch on tracks opened as the Millennium Line to Production Way/University through Lougheed Town Centre.

Lines

Canada Line

Evergreen Line

Expo Line

Millennium Line

Rolling stock

Expo, Millennium, Evergreen lines

Fleet number(s)	Thumbnail	Year	Manufacturer	Model	A/C?	Notes
001-056		1984	UTDC	ICTS MK I	No	Introduced for the original phase of Expo line. Feature manual windshield wipers
061-118		1985	UTDC	ICTS MK I	No	Introduced for the original phase of Expo line. Feature manual winshield wipers
121-136		1991	UTDC	ICTS MK I	No	Introduced for the second phase of Expo line.
137-156		1995	UTDC	ICTS MK I	No	Introduced for the third phase of Expo line.
201-260		2001-2002	Bombardier	ART MK II	Yes	Introduced for the Millennium line.
301-348		2009-2010	Bombardier	ART MK II	Yes	These cars were introduced in time for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic games. Feature current Translink livery and interior (includes new seating, LED map, CCTV cameras)
401 - 428		2015-2016	Bombardier	INNOVIA Metro 300 MK III	Yes	4-cars long, open gangways Purchased for Evergreen Line extension Feature a bike section on the end cars. Entered service August 18th, 2016.

Canada line

Fleet number(s)	Thumbnail	Year	Manufacturer	Model	A/C?	Notes
101/201-120/220		2009	Hyundai-Rotem	LRV	Yes	Used exclusively on Canada Line

On order

Fleet number(s)	Thumbnail	Year	Manufacturer	Motor	Notes
429-456		2019-2020	Bombardier	INNOVIA Metro 300 MK III	On order from funding that was put in place June 15, 2016.

References

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