Original trains on SkyTrain's Canada Line set to be refurbished | Daily Hive

Hyundai Rotem trains on SkyTrain's Canada Line. (Wangkun Jia/Shutterstock)

Some improvements are set to be made to the original fleet of trains used on SkyTrain’s Canada Line.

When the Canada Line opened in 2009, it was equipped with a fleet of 40 cars — 20 two-car trains manufactured in South Korea by Hyundai Rotem.

Over the past decade and a half, this original fleet has increasingly begun to show its age, with wear and tear resulting from heavy use and high ridership.

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TransLink has now indicated that, over the coming years, its system operator plans to modernize the Canada Line train fleet. This refurbishment work will extend the vehicles’ lifespan and enhance reliability.

However, passengers should not expect any visible changes to the train interiors or the addition of new passenger amenities or features, such as the LCDs for real-time, next-station maps found on the new Mark V trains on the Expo and Millennium lines. In response to an inquiry by Daily Hive Urbanized, a TransLink spokesperson said the Canada Line train upgrades relate to “numerous train systems and components” for reliability purposes.

Additionally, there are also plans to improve the train communications systems on the Canada Line to improve the system’s reliability.

Inside a Hyundai Rotem train on SkyTrain’s Canada Line. (Kenneth Chan)

Between 2019 and 2020, the Canada Line’s fleet size was boosted to 64 cars — 32 two-car trains — from the arrival of 24 new cars or 12 two-car trains from Hyundai Rotem. These newer trains are visually indistinguishable from the original fleet, with the exact same exterior and interior design, based on designs created in the 2000s. But the newer trains do have improved air conditioning.

The Canada Line is privately operated and maintained by a consortium led by AtkinsRealis (formerly known as SNC-Lavalin), with the public-private partnership’s contract set to expire in 2040.

Bridgeport Station on SkyTrain’s Canada Line. (Eric Buermeyer/Shutterstock)

As well, TransLink is still working on modernizing the locomotives and passenger cars used on the West Coast Express commuter rail, which is operated by Alstom (formerly Bombardier Transportation), with the locomotives and passenger cars separately maintained by VIA Rail.

Three refurbished locomotives are currently in service, and the fourth is scheduled to return to service by Summer 2025. The fifth locomotive will be shipped out for refurbishment by the end of July 2025, with an expected return date of Spring 2027.

Modernization upgrades are also planned for the SeaBus ferry terminals to improve passenger circulation and flow, comfort, and convenience. This includes replacing aging operational equipment such as the loading day boors, emergency exit ramps, and Waterfront Station’s skywalk reaching the ferry terminal.

As previously reported by Daily Hive Urbanized, a total of 235 Mark V cars — 47 five-car trains — will be put in service on the Expo and Millennium lines by 2029. The first of these new generation Mark V trains went into service in the second half of 2025.

In the mid-2010s, TransLink undertook a refurbishment of some of the original Mark I SkyTrain cars — the oldest trains on the Expo and Millennium Lines. This included work on electrical systems, some interior changes (new LED lighting and seating reconfiguration), door refurbishments, and repainting to extend their service life. At the time, the goal was to add years of use for those trains rather than replace them outright. Over the coming years, the Mark I fleet will be fully retired by the new Mark V trains.

As well, TransLink has plans to exercise its options for significant additional orders of Mark V trains to fully replace the Mark II trains, with the original Mark II trains that entered service in the early 2000s retired in the early 2030s, and the second batch of Mark II trains that entered service in the late 2000s retired later in the 2030s.

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