Reduced SkyTrain service from Production Way to Braid stations until 2026

Reduced SkyTrain service between Production Way-University and Braid stations until 2026 due to construction

SkyTrain Braid Station (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Expect less frequent train service on a major segment of SkyTrain Expo Line over the next two years to accommodate construction work for a new SkyTrain operations and maintenance centre (OMC).

TransLink announced today that starting on February 10, 2024, until early 2026, a reduced frequency pattern will be put in place on the Expo Line segment between Production-Way University Station and Braid Station. This also affects Expo Line service for Lougheed Town Station.

Expo Line frequencies for these three stations will be reduced from the current levels of every six to 10 minutes to every 12 minutes.

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Additionally, some Expo Line trains that currently terminate at Production Way-University Station will instead terminate early at Braid Station before reversing direction to Waterfront Station. This means passengers should check the train’s destination sign before boarding an eastbound train on the Expo Line. At Sapperton Station and Braid Station, both platforms at the stations will have some trains heading to Waterfront Station.

Services on SkyTrain Millennium Line and other segments of the Expo Line will not be impacted.

skytrain expo line omc4 construction reduced service

Segment on SkyTrain Expo Line with reduced service for OMC4 construction between February 2024 and early 2026. (TransLink)

These prolonged service impacts on the Expo Line between Production Way-University Station and Braid Station will allow construction crews to build tracks and track switches connecting SkyTrain to a major new operations and maintenance centre being built near Braid Station in Coquitlam.

OMC4, the name of the facility, is currently being built on a 27-acre industrial property at 225 North Road. This will be a major additional facility to operate, maintain, and store the train fleet used on the Expo and Millennium lines, with a capacity to store up to hundreds of train cars.

Moreover, OMC4 is being built just in time for the arrival of 41 five-car-long new-generation Mark V trains over the coming years, which will be the longest trains on the network, requiring added maintenance and storage space.

A flyover SkyTrain track above the adjacent Canadian National railyard will be built on the eastern end of OMC4 to link the new SkyTrain facility to the Expo Line.

skytrain omc 4 construction progress august 19 2023

Construction on SkyTrain’s new OMC4 operations and maintenance centre in Coquitlam for the Expo and Millennium lines, as of August 19, 2023. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Proposed layout of SkyTrain’s OMC 4 at 225 North Road, Coquitlam. (TransLink)

It was previously stated that OMC4 carries a budget of about $300 million. Construction on the project first began in 2021.

In addition to the new OMC4 in Coquitlam, there are plans to build a similarly sized facility (OMC5) by the end of this decade near the future Langley end of the Expo Line’s Surrey-Langley extension.

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