33 behind-the-scenes photos of SkyTrain Evergreen Line construction progress
The precise date for when transit users can begin to use the SkyTrain Evergreen Line for their everyday commutes hinges upon the progress of tunnel track and systems installations now that the 2.2-kilometre tunnel boring project is complete. The line is currently slated for an early-2017 opening.
According to the Ministry of Transportation, the entire 11-kilometre extension project of the Millennium Line is 75 per cent complete, with elevated and at-grade guideways finished and train testing now underway within the southernmost portion before the south tunnel portal. The seven new station structures, including the additional platform for Lougheed Town Centre Station, are between 80 per cent and 99 per cent finished.
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With tunnel boring now complete, crews are working to remove the tunnel boring systems and building a flat surface for rail tracks and systems to run on. The 10-metre diameter tunnel, which is over 50 metres deep in some areas, will also be divided by a wall to separate the trains traveling in opposite directions.
When complete, the Evergreen Line will effectively be an extension of the Millennium Line. Trains will run every 3 minutes during peak hours and allow transit users to travel from VCC-Clark Station in Vancouver to Lafarge Lake-Douglas Station in Coquitlam in about 35 minutes. A trip from Lougheed Town Centre, at the new platform, to the new Coquitalm terminus will take 15 minutes.
It is anticipated that approximately 50,000 passengers will use the new Evergreen extension upon opening. Ridership will grow relatively quickly, to 70,000 daily by 2021.
Further down the line, foot traffic within Commercial-Broadway Station is expected to increase by 25 per cent when the Evergreen extension commences revenue service.
Here’s a photo construction update of the project:
The new third platform at Lougheed Town Centre Station.
Going beyond: a view of the new tracks for the Evergreen extension.
Staircase and escalators to the new third platform within the expanded concourse area of Lougheed Town Centre Station.
Exterior view of the new third platform at Lougheed Town Centre Station.
Along the middle of North Road, an elevated concrete guideway.
Burquitlam Station has reached substantial completion.
Just north of Burquitlam Station, the guideway begins to dip to the ground for the transition into the south tunnel portal.
The south tunnel portal of the Evergreen Line and the tunnel ventilation systems building.
Video of the tunnel machine’s breakthrough at the south tunnel portal pit on November 27, 2015.
Evergreen Line tunnel boring machine breakthroughIt’s a breakthrough! This morning, the 10-metre diameter tunnel boring machine for the #SkyTrain Evergreen Line saw daylight, effectively ending its journey.
Posted by Vancity Buzz on Friday, November 27, 2015