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TransLink SkyTrain Sapperton Station

Train to: Production Way–University Sapperton Train to: Waterfront
Next Station: Braid Next Station: Columbia
Expo Line Logo-a.png
TransLink Sapperton Station platform header-b.png
TransLink Expo Line bullet-a.png TransLink Accessible bullet-b.png TransLink Bike Rack bullet-b.png
Translink Sapperton Station-a.jpg
General Information
Address 20 Spruce Street, New Westminster, BC
Owner TransLink
Operator British Columbia
Rapid Transit Company
Lines served Expo Line Logo and Symbol-a.png
Bus connections None
Fare Zone 2
Platforms 2 (side)
Entrances 1
Construction
Structure type Elevated
Levels 2
Architect Hancock Bruckner Eng &
Wright Architects
Annual Traffic
Passengers ▲992,200 (2019)
▲964,600 (2018)
▲932,600 (2017)
872,000 (2016)
Ranking 46 out of 53
Other Information
Bike lockers No
Bike Parkade No
Park and Ride No
Carsharing No
Station code SA
History
Opening date January 2, 2002
Former services Millennium Line Logo and Symbol-a.png


Sapperton is a SkyTrain station in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Station Details

 
The de-alarmed emergency exit on the south side of the inbound platform

The station provides easy access to nearby residential areas and Royal Columbian Hospital. The TransLink, Coast Mountain Bus Company and Transit Police headquarters are located nearby. Sapperton is the only elevated station in the system where passengers have to go up from the platforms to reach the concourse and exit/entrance, a concept found more commonly in underground stations. The station entrance is located on Keary Street on the west side of Brunette Avenue. An overpass stretches over the Burlington North Santa Fe (BNSF) right-of-way and Brunette Avenue.

This is also the only SkyTrain station with no direct bus connections.

Sapperton has a unique roof support design at the platform level, featuring complex metalwork to support the gull-wing roofs over the two platforms. In between the two platforms, there is a large wheel as part of a public art fixture that has been part of the station since it opened. The wheel was powered by a stationary bike on the concourse, which has since been removed. The station was designed by Hancock Bruckner Eng & Wright Architects and the architecture of steel and glass reflects the industrial area around the station.[1][2][3]

History

Sapperton Station opened as part of the initial stage of the Millennium Line when it ran from Waterfront to Braid. The section from Braid to Commercial Drive, or what is now Commercial–Broadway, opened a few months later. The station became part of the Expo Line on October 22, 2016, after the SkyTrain network was redesigned in lieu of the Millennium Line Evergreen Extension.

In July 2004, the station was closed for work to be done on the floor tiles to make them less slippery.[4][5]

Between 2016 and 2017, the emergency exit to Spruce Street was relieved of its status as an emergency exit. This was done to address access concerns for people working in the industrial area towards the east. Emergency labels were removed, the stairs were de-alarmed, and a Compass Card tap module was installed at the bottom of the stairs. This exit is accessible through the south side of both inbound and outbound platforms.

Controversy

During the planning and construction phase, the station was criticized as being a station to "nowhere" by then-New Westminster Mayor Helen Sparkes.[6] New Westminster wanted Sapperton Station to be built to provide access to Royal Columbian Hospital, but when the station design was finalized, access to the hospital was and continues to be poor, as the station entrance opens up to the rear of the hospital at the bottom of a hill. An elevator to help with access would've cost TransLink and the province $350,000, which both claimed could not fit into the $1.9-billion project budget and $60-million fund for station additions.[6]

Further, the province decided not to install a stairwell at the south end of the station to access the $9-million riverfront park that was being developed adjacent to Sapperton Station,[6] although the stairwell was later installed as an emergency exit. The refusal to install stairs was also due to a lack of funding in the budget. However, in a letter to The Vancouver Sun by System Architect Alan Hart of Rapid Transit Project 2000, the organization responsible for planning and construction for the Millennium Line, Hart believed that the claim by Mayor Sparkes is unfair that Sapperton is a "useless" station.[7] Hart stated that the location of Sapperton was the result of "intensive public consultation" and its location supported by the hospital. The lack of access to the waterfront park from Sapperton was because Braid Station provided better access because access from Sapperton would require park visitors to be dumped "seven storeys down in the middle of rail tracks."[7]

Bus Routes

This station has no connecting bus routes. However, the closest bus route is route 109 which has stops both northbound and southbound along Columbia Street. The stops are accessible through a short walk along Keary Street.

Station Layout

S

 

  • Transit information
  • Compass Ticket Vending Machines
  • Shops
T
Side platform, doors will open on the right
Platform 2 ←   Expo Line towards Production Way–University (Braid)
Platform 1   Expo Line towards Waterfront (Columbia) →
Side platform, doors will open on the right


Sapperton Station Exits
   Keary Street
  • TransLink Head Office
  • Royal Columbian Hospital

First and Last Trains

Sapperton Station
  Weekdays Saturdays Sundays/Holidays
First Train to Waterfront 5:16 a.m. 6:19 a.m. 7:18 a.m.
Last Train to Waterfront 12:41 a.m.
12:39 a.m. on Fridays 		12:39 a.m. 11:41 p.m.
First Train
to Production Way–University 		5:24 a.m. 6:30 a.m. 7:30 a.m.
Last Train
to Production Way–University 		1:07 a.m.
1:14 a.m. on Fridays 		1:14 a.m. 12:07 a.m.
First Train
to New Westminster
late-night service 		12:49 a.m.
12:47 a.m. on Fridays 		12:47 a.m. 11:49 p.m.
Last Train
to New Westminster
late-night service 		1:29 a.m.
1:33 a.m. on Fridays 		1:33 a.m. 12:29 a.m.
First Train
to Lougheed Town Centre
late-night service 		1:17 a.m.
1:23 a.m. on Fridays 		1:23 a.m. 12:17 a.m.
Last Train
to Lougheed Town Centre
late-night service 		1:45 a.m.
1:46 a.m. on Fridays 		1:46 a.m. 12:45 a.m.

Nearby Attractions

  • TransLink Head Office
  • Royal Columbian Hospital

Station Maps

References

  1. ↑ Vancouver's Millennium Line Canadian Architect, retrieved 16-02-2019
  2. ↑ In case you forgot: the Millennium line, seven years later johntrueman.ca, retrieved 16-02-2019
  3. ↑ Sapperton Station tboake.com, retrieved 16-02-2019
  4. ↑ The Province (2004, July 20). Delays at Sapperton station, The Province, A3.
  5. ↑ TransLink to modify flooring at Sapperton SkyTrain station, web.archive.org, retrieved 03-01-2020
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Munro. H. (2000, February 3). SkyTrain stop to be `useless,' mayor says: Riders headed for Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster will face a steep climb to reach the hospital's main entrance, The Vancouver Sun, B1.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Hart, A. (2000, February 9). Sapperton station has its supporters, The Vancouver Sun, A16.
v·d·e
 
Operations
Lines        
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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