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) 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. 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, 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.[1] 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 (Waterfront to Braid) and second phase on August 31 of that year (Braid to Commercial Drive). A short extension to its current terminus at VCC-Clark opened on January 6, 2006.[2] 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 on December 2nd, 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.
October 2016 saw an entire re-alignment of the system. To prepare for the opening of the Evergreen Extension, a branch to Production Way was added to the Expo Line, which caused Sapperton and Braid to re-brand as Expo Line Stations. In addition, Lougheed and Production Way became dual-branded as Expo and Millennium Line stations. The other big change was on the Millennium line, which was short-turned at Lougheed from VCC-Clark - No more Millennium Line trains ran between Waterfront and Lougheed. Because of this, stations Waterfront thru Columbia (excluding Commercial-Broadway) were branded as solely Expo Line Stations for the first time since 2001. This was necessary since it was proven too difficult to have a simultaneous pattern of both Evergreen and Millennium Line trains on the existing Millennium line branch between Lougheed and VCC-Clark. Limited resources and increased demand for the Expo Line branches were additional factors of the re-alignment.
The re-alignment also had an effect on train lengths. It is now uncommon to see a 4-car Mark 1 set and for the first time since before the Olympics, 2-car Mark IIs serve the Millennium Line branch. In addition, the newly ordered Mark IIIs and older Mark Is are strictly allocated to the Expo Line, making Mark IIs the most widespread fleet in the entire system.
Lines
Train Yards
- xEdmonds Operations and Maintenance Centre (Opened in 1985)
- Port Moody Train Yard (Opened in 2016)
- Canada Line Operations and Maintenance Centre
Rolling Stock
Active
Expo and Millennium lines
Fleet number(s) | Thumbnail | Year | Manufacturer | Model | A/C? | Notes |
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001-056 | 1984 | UTDC | ICTS MK I | No |
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061-118 | 1985 | UTDC | ICTS MK I | No |
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121-136 | 1991 | UTDC | ICTS MK I | No |
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137-156 | 1995 | UTDC | ICTS MK I | No |
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201-260 | 2001-2002 | Bombardier | ART MK II | Yes |
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301-348 | 2009-2010 | Bombardier | ART MK II | Yes |
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401-428 | 2015-2016 | Bombardier | INNOVIA Metro 300 MK III | Yes |
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Canada Line
Fleet number(s) | Thumbnail | Year | Manufacturer | Model | A/C? | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
101/201-120/220 | 2009 | Hyundai-Rotem | LRV | Yes |
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On Order
Expo and Millennium lines
Fleet number(s) | Thumbnail | Year | Manufacturer | Motor | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
429-456 | 2018-2019 | Bombardier | INNOVIA Metro 300 MK III |
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References
- ↑ "TransLink History Nov 2008". TransLink. November 20, 2008. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
- ↑ History of SkyTrain. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
- ↑ Pabillano, Jhenifer. "Improved interiors for the new SkyTrain cars!" The Buzzer blog. Translink. 6 May 2009. Web. Retrieved on 04 February 2013.
Operations | ||||||||||||||||||
Lines | ||||||||||||||||||
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Rolling stock | 1984 UTDC ICTS Mark I – 1985 UTDC ICTS Mark I – 1991 UTDC ICTS Mark I – 1995 Bombardier ICTS Mark I – 2001 Bombardier ART Mark II – 2008 Hyundai Rotem EMU – 2009 Bombardier ART Mark II – 2015 Bombardier Innovia Metro Mark III – 2018 Bombardier Innovia Metro Mark III – 2019 Hyundai Rotem EMU | |||||||||||||||||
Yards | Operations and Maintenance Centre – Coquitlam Maintenance Centre – Canada Line Operations and Maintenance Centre | |||||||||||||||||
Stations | ||||||||||||||||||
Waterfront – Vancouver City Centre – Yaletown–Roundhouse – Olympic Village – Broadway–City Hall – King Edward – Oakridge–41st Avenue – Langara–49th Avenue – Marine Drive – Bridgeport – Capstan Way – Aberdeen – Lansdowne – Richmond–Brighouse | ||||||||||||||||||
Airport branch ← Towards Waterfront – Bridgeport – Templeton – Sea Island Centre – YVR–Airport | ||||||||||||||||||
Waterfront – Burrard – Granville – Stadium–Chinatown – Main Street–Science World – Commercial–Broadway – Nanaimo – 29th Avenue – Joyce–Collingwood – Patterson – Metrotown – Royal Oak – Edmonds – 22nd Street – New Westminster – Columbia – Scott Road – Gateway – Surrey Central – King George | ||||||||||||||||||
Production Way branch ← Towards Waterfront – Columbia – Sapperton – Braid – Lougheed Town Centre – Production Way–University | ||||||||||||||||||
Arbutus – South Granville – Oak–VGH – Broadway–City Hall – Mount Pleasant – Great Northern Way–Emily Carr – VCC–Clark – Commercial–Broadway – Renfrew – Rupert – Gilmore – Brentwood Town Centre – Holdom – Sperling–Burnaby Lake – Lake City Way – Production Way–University – Lougheed Town Centre – Burquitlam – Moody Centre – Inlet Centre – Coquitlam Central – Lincoln – Lafarge Lake–Douglas | ||||||||||||||||||
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