Opinion: "Future" SkyTrain stations should be built from the get-go instead

This is Part Three of Daily Hive Urbanized’s three-part series on the opening of Capstan Station on SkyTrain’s Canada Line.

• Part One — 9 design features to know about SkyTrain’s newly opened Capstan Station
• Part Two — How Richmond developers funded half of the construction cost to build SkyTrain’s new Capstan Station

Capstan Station, the newest addition on TransLink’s SkyTrain network that opened just before Christmas 2024, sets a very high benchmark for a metro system’s station design with its thoughtfully optimized configuration and architectural design.

When the Canada Line was designed and planned in the 2000s, there was no need to include a station at the northeast corner of the intersection of No. 3 Road and Capstan Way — an area that was largely undeveloped at that time, with dense bushes on dozens of acres to the east and auto dealerships to the west.

But even in the 2000s, the City of Richmond had long-term plans to catalyze the area’s development into a high-density mixed-use residential community called Capstan Village.

And so the Canada Line was designed in a way to enable the future construction of Capstan Station at that specific location of the elevated guideway, which is also the midway point between Bridgeport Station and Aberdeen Station.

You might also like:
• 9 design features to know about SkyTrain's newly opened Capstan Station
• How Richmond developers funded half of the construction cost to build SkyTrain's new Capstan Station
• Third SkyTrain station in Port Moody could cost up to $100 million: City report
• New renderings of the design of SkyTrain Oakridge-41st Avenue Station's expansion
• An award-winning unchosen design for SkyTrain Capstan Station (RENDERINGS)

By 2012, three years after the Canada Line’s opening, when the first major residential developments were well underway, it became clear that the area’s growing population would benefit from realizing Capstan Station, effectively turning the area into a transit-oriented development site.

The City of Richmond also turned to the Capstan Village’s developers to help fund the construction of a new station. An agreement was made with four developers in the station’s catchment area to charge a levy of $8,500 per home, which ultimately raised $32.2 million or just over half of the entire $62.2 million cost of the station.

Today, well over half of the planned developments within Capstan Village have reached completion. Upon full buildout at the end of this decade, there will be over 6,000 new homes — built by developers Concord Pacific, Polygon, Pinnacle International, and Yuanheng — within a 10-minute walk of Capstan Station.

December 20, 2024, opening day of SkyTrain Canada Line’s Capstan Station. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

December 20, 2024, opening day of SkyTrain Canada Line’s Capstan Station. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

The challenges of the future subway stations of 33rd Avenue and 57th Avenue

Capstan Station is one of four “future” additional station locations for the Canada Line. The other three potential infill stations are West 33rd Avenue Station and West 57th Avenue Station in Vancouver, and one additional station on Sea Island to serve a future terminal building expansion of Vancouver International Airport (YVR).

As demonstrated by the construction of Capstan Station, “future” infill station sites on the SkyTrain network do not require the reconstruction of the existing guideway. The original design and construction of the guideway at the future station sites were engineered in a way that allows for the addition of station platforms and structures on the sides. These pre-built provisions are limited to providing a straight section of track long enough for the station platforms, a flat grade, and possibly some different third rail (power rail) placements.

A decade and a half after the Canada Line’s opening, significant residential developments are planned near the potential station locations of West 33rd Avenue Station and West 57th Avenue Station. In fact, the number of new homes planned near each of these two locations within new high-density developments is comparable to Capstan Village.

2000s project map of SkyTrain Canada Line, with the four potential future stations indicated. (TransLink)

The potential West 33rd Avenue Station — situated roughly midway between King Edward Station and Oakridge-41st Avenue Station — is within very close proximity to MST Developments’ 21-acre Heather Lands project entailing 2,600 new homes, plus thousands of additional homes built by other developers replacing single-family houses in the same vicinity within the Cambie Corridor Plan.

Moreover, beyond serving a growing residential population, a potential West 3rd Avenue Station would also directly serve the major destinations of Queen Elizabeth Park immediately to the east, and the BC Children’s Hospital and BC Women’s Hospital to the west.

The potential West 57th Avenue Station would be located roughly midway between Langara-49th Avenue Station and Marine Drive Station. Two neighbourhood-sized high-density developments are planned immediately adjacent to the station, including Onni Group’s 25-acre Pearson Dogwood development of 3,000 new homes, 132,000 sq ft of retail/restaurant uses, and 205,00 sq ft of community healthcare uses, and Concert Properties and Petersen Group’s 21-acre Langara Gardens development of 2,600 new homes.

2024 concept rendering of the Heather Lands parcel at 620 West 35th Avenue, Vancouver. (GBL Architects/Aquilini Development/Canada Lands Company/MST Development Corporation)

Artistic rendering of the 2022 revisions to Pearson Dogwood: blue (condos converted to rentals), and turquoise (added height for condos). Langara Gardens is also shown in grey. (IBI Group/Onni Group)

2023 revised artistic rendering of Langara Gardens at 7051 Ash Crescent, Vancouver, with Pearson Dogwood also depicted. (James Cheng Architects/Concert Properties/Peterson Group)

Following the 2017 rezoning approval, Onni Group provided the City of Vancouver with $20 million to help cover the cost of the potential West 57th Avenue Station. Additionally, the developer’s master plan for the Pearson Dogwood development allocates a large space at the southwest corner of the intersection of Cambie Street and West 57th Avenue for a major public plaza and the subway entrance building.

However, with each passing year, the $20 million committed by Onni Group covers an increasingly smaller proportion of the cost of West 57th Avenue Station due to the inflation of construction costs. It should be noted that the agreement with Onni Group allows the $20 million to be redirected toward other transportation improvements in the area if the station is not built.

More importantly, the costs to construct the underground West 33rd Avenue Station and West 57th Avenue Station would likely be exponentially higher than the elevated Capstan Station. Building underground presents far greater engineering challenges compared to at-grade or elevated station construction, and the complexity is further amplified by the need to safely integrate these stations into a busy, active segment of the subway — ideally with very minimal disruption to train services.

Capstan Station’s final cost is $62.2 million, and it includes a $10 million construction cost overrun due to geotechnical issues with Richmond’s unstable soil and changing site conditions that arose partly from surrounding work by neighbouring construction projects. This required TransLink to carry out structural upgrades to the station, which contributed to the project’s nearly two-year delay in completion.

Capstan Station was supposed to be a relatively simple “future” infill station construction project.

Even in 2014, TransLink’s preliminary cost estimate for the potential West 57th Avenue Station was $90 million. Considering that this estimate is now a decade old, the rapid escalation of construction costs since the pandemic, and the recent trend of public transit infrastructure projects doubling or even tripling in cost, it is entirely plausible that building West 57th Avenue Station today would cost several times more than $90 million — let alone the even greater cost if the project is seriously pursued years from now, given that such projects are not on TransLink’s radar for the foreseeable future.

Furthermore, the public transit authority estimated that it could take at least 10 years to build West 57th Avenue Station due to the engineering complexities of adding a station to an existing subway system and the need to minimize service disruptions as much as possible.

Conceptual artistic rendering for illustrative purposes of the future 57th Avenue Station subway entrance at the southwest corner of the intersection of Cambie Street and 57th Avenue, as part of the Pearson Dogwood redevelopment. (Onni Group)

2023 revised transportation plan of Langara Gardens at 7051 Ash Crescent, Vancouver, with Pearson Dogwood also depicted. (James Cheng Architects/Concert Properties/Peterson Group)

Similarly, the potential West 33rd Avenue Station would likely face comparable high construction costs and an extended construction timeline. Additionally, the unique geotechnical challenges in the area next to Queen Elizabeth Park are well-documented due to the presence of hard volcanic rock. This rock required explosive blasting during the Canada Line’s cut-and-cover tunnel construction along Cambie Street in the 2000s.

277 days of Canada Line service impacts for Capstan Station construction

Construction on Capstan Station first began in September 2021. To accommodate the safe construction of Capstan Station, there were a total of 277 days of scheduled service impacts (a combined total of over nine months or equivalent to 76% of a year) on the Richmond segment of the Canada Line between January 2022 and November 2024, based on Daily Hive Urbanized’s count of TransLink service disruption notices due to construction activities.

This includes 25 days of reduced frequencies and 252 days of early evening full closures until the end of the day’s service for the segment between Bridgeport Station and Richmond-Brighouse Station. Some of the initial closures began at 10:30 pm, but nearly all subsequent closures started at 9:30 pm. TransLink made up for the train shutdowns by running an extra bus service every 10 minutes between the closed stations. Almost all of these disruptions occurred on weekdays.

Over the course of three years, there were about two dozen separate periods of scheduled service disruptions to accommodate Capstan Station’s construction, with the longest early closure lasting 70 days, from September 5 to December 19, 2023, on weekdays.

August 2022 construction progress on SkyTrain Capstan Station. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

February 2023 construction progress on Capstan Station on SkyTrain Canada Line. (TransLink)

Building a new subway station on a busy, active segment of subway would conceivably require far more and longer scheduled service disruption periods.

But such significant disruptions over a prolonged period would certainly not be tolerable for the busy segments of the Canada Line within Vancouver to build West 33rd Avenue Station and West 57th Avenue Station. This would seriously test the patience of passengers.

According to TransLink data, in 2019, an average of 81,500 passengers per weekday travelled on the Canada Line between King Edward Station and Oakridge-41st Avenue Station — the segment where West 33rd Avenue Station would be located. This figure should not be confused for ingress and egress at these specific stations, as they include the many other passengers who travelled through the segment to reach other parts of the Canada Line.

With an average of 81,500 passenger movements per weekday, the segment for West 33rd Avenue Station is nearly tied as the busiest segment of the Canada Line. The busiest segment is between Broadway-City Hall Station and King Edward Station, which sees an average of 85,100 passenger movements per weekday.

For West 57th Avenue Station, the segment between Langara-49th Avenue Station and Marine Drive Station saw a comparably high average of 74,200 passenger movements per weekday.

In contrast, far fewer passengers were impacted by the construction of Capstan Station, with the segment between Bridgeport Station and Aberdeen Station seeing a 2019 average of 37,600 passenger movements per weekday — half the ridership of the two Vancouver segments for West 33rd Avenue Station and West 57th Avenue Station.

July 2023 construction progress on Capstan Station on SkyTrain Canada Line. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Construction progress on Capstan Station on SkyTrain Canada Line, as of March 24, 2024. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Additionally, it is important to note that most of the scheduled service disruptions to accommodate Capstan Station’s construction occurred during the Canada Line’s previous years of lower ridership due to the major impacts of the pandemic. Ridership has since normalized, and it will only increase with each passing year from continued development densification, the 2025 opening of the new Oakridge Park mall, and the 2027 opening of the Millennium Line’s Broadway extension, which will transform Broadway-City Hall into a regional interchange hub between the Canada Line and Millennium Line.

When asked about the status of the Canada Line’s other potential future stations during the grand opening ceremony for Capstan Station, TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn said these stations could be considered at a future date, and it would depend on performing a business case to determine the costs and benefits of these stations.

“Those stations identified, especially the ones in Vancouver, would be underground. They would likely have a much more significant capital cost than an above-ground station,” said Quinn, referring to West 33rd Avenue Station and West 57th Avenue Station.

“I’ll also note that they’re on the main trunk of the Canada Line. The delays and impacts for building those stations would likely be felt throughout the entire Canada Line versus here with Capstan Station. We were able to really isolate any delays or impacts to just this [Richmond] branch.”

Similarly, between early 2024 and early 2026, there are currently scheduled service disruptions on the Expo Line segment near Braid Station for the construction of a track switch that will serve SkyTrain’s future OMC4 Operations and Maintenance Centre. This section is a less busy part of the SkyTrain network and is not located on the main trunk of the Expo Line.

An additional station for Vancouver’s airport

As for the additional station on Sea Island, the need for such a station would only arise with the future construction of a major terminal building expansion at Vancouver International Airport, located east of the existing easternmost extent of the US transborder terminal (Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel). This terminal expansion, referred to by the Vancouver Airport Authority as the “Pier F/East Concourse” terminal building, has no set timeline for development at this time, but some planning work began before the pandemic.

This additional YVR station — the fourth station on Sea Island — would be built northeast of the Petro-Canada gas station, just before where the Canada Line’s elevated guideway’s dual track combines into a single track for the final approach into the existing YVR Airport Station. More specifically, this station’s siting is tightly wedged between two track switches set 50 metres apart, including the westernmost track switch just before the transition into a single track.

The site of the future additional Canada Line station at Sea Island for the future Vancouver International Airport terminal building expansion is located just before the final track switch where the dual track transitions into a single track toward YVR Airport Station. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

This additional station serving YVR is 400 metres east of the easternmost wall of the US transborder terminal building, and approximately one km east of YVR Airport Station.

Unlike the single-platform configuration of YVR Airport Station due to the single track, this potential additional station would be built with dual platforms, one platform for each direction.

Such an additional station would not only serve the Pier F/East Concourse terminal building expansion, but also help alleviate some of the growing capacity and circulation issues at YVR Airport Station. Prior to the pandemic, the previous leadership of Vancouver Airport Authority told Daily Hive Urbanized that YVR Airport Station could, at some point in the future, see an additional platform on the south side of the station’s single track to double its spatial footprint, allowing for better handling of the growing volumes of luggage-carrying passengers. This would enable doors on both sides of the train to open.

Such investments in an additional station at YVR and an expanded YVR Airport Station may depend on direct investment from the airport authority, similar to how it fully funded the construction of the Sea Island segment of the Canada Line, including Sea Island Centre Station and Templeton Station.

The site of the future additional Canada Line station at Sea Island for the future Vancouver International Airport terminal building expansion is located just before the final track switch where the dual track transitions into a single track toward YVR Airport Station. (Google Maps/Daily Hive)

The site of the future additional Canada Line station at Sea Island for the future Vancouver International Airport terminal building expansion is located just before the final track switch where the dual track transitions into a single track toward YVR Airport Station. (Google Maps/Daily Hive)

Possible future configuration of the Pier F/East Concourse expansion of the Vancouver International Airport terminal building, with the potential future additional Canada Line station highlighted. (Vancouver Airport Authority)

In 2019, the Canada Line segment between Sea Island Centre Station and YVR Airport Station saw an average of 17,100 passenger movements per weekday, which is half the volume of the segment between Bridgeport Station and Aberdeen Station, where Capstan Station is now located.

In an interview with Daily Hive Urbanized in Fall 2024, Tamara Vrooman, the president and CEO of the Vancouver Airport Authority, said there are no plans to conduct a major terminal building expansion for the foreseeable future, as the 2022-opened Pier D international terminal building expansion provides sufficient additional capacity for now, in addition to the airport’s strategy of optimizing the use of the terminal building’s existing space.

There is exceptionally strong air traveller passenger growth at YVR, with the final passenger tally for 2024 expected to come extremely close to the all-time record of 26.4 million passenger in 2019.

Future station sites on the Expo and Millennium lines

There are a number of potential future station locations on the Expo Line and Millennium Line, too.

All three SkyTrain lines have a combined total of at least eight potential future additional station locations, including the aforementioned four on the Canada Line.

On the Millennium Line, there are three future station sites, including a second SkyTrain station on Nanaimo Street in Vancouver — located in the Grandview Cut immediately west of the Nanaimo Street bridge.

This additional station would be roughly midway between Commercial-Broadway Station and Renfrew Station, which is a segment that saw an average of 46,400 passenger movements per weekday in 2019. This figure is expected to increase significantly in 2027 when the Millennium Line’s Broadway extension opens. As well, such an additional station location is about 1.1 km or a 16-minute walk north from the Expo Line’s existing Nanaimo Station.

Potential future additional Millennium Line station at Nanaimo Street in the Grandview Cut in Vancouver. (Google Maps/Daily Hive)

Further east on the Millennium Line, the 2016-built Evergreen extension has two future station sites in Port Moody and Coquitlam.

One of these potential future locations is north of the intersection of Queen Street and Clarke Street in Port Moody — situated between the Evergreen extension’s east tunnel entrance and Moody Centre Station, which is a segment that saw an average of 26,200 passenger movements per weekday in 2019. This station at Queens Street would be built at ground level.

According to a previous study commissioned by the City of Port Moody, the potential Queens Street Station could see 409,000 annual boardings by 2035, based on the area’s development growth.

Queens Street Station would be one of the least busiest stations on the entire SkyTrain network and cannibalize a portion of the ridership at Moody Centre Station, which is about one km or a 15-minute walk west from the Queens Street Station site.

The other future station site on the Evergreen extension is at Falcon Drive in Coquitlam — about 700 metres or a 10-minute walk east of Inlet Centre Station. In 2019, the segment between Inlet Centre Station and Coquitlam Central Station saw an average of 21,700 passenger movements per weekday, and this is expected to further increase from new major high-density residential developments, specifically Wesgroup Properties’ 15-acre Inlet Centre project with 2,600 new homes and Polygon Homes’ 11-acre Coronation Heights project with 2,800 homes.

However, most of the reserved adjacent footprint of this potential station has since been repurposed as part of a recent trainyard expansion for SkyTrain’s OMC3 operations and maintenance centre at Falcon Drive.

Potential future SkyTrain station locations identified by the City of Port Moody at Queens Street, and the City of Coquitlam at Falcon Drive. (Urban Systems/City of Port Moody)

Location of the potential future Queens Street Station on the Millennium Line in Coquitlam, next to OMC3. (Walkaholic Tourist/YouTube)

Location of the potential future Falcon Drive Station on the Millennium Line in Coquitlam, next to OMC3. (Walkaholic Tourist/YouTube)

When the original Millennium Line was first built in 2002, the segment between Columbia Station and Sapperton Station was part of the Millennium Line. However, in 2016, the original Millennium Line segment between Columbia Station and Lougheed Town Centre Station was reassigned to the Expo Line as part of the network’s realignment for the opening of the Evergreen extension.

Within this segment, there is a potential future station location immediately east of the Expo Line’s New Westminster tunnel entrance — next to the intersection of East Columbia Street and McBride Boulevard in Victoria Hill. This is where the Expo Line emerges from a one-km tunnel from Columbia Station before continuing along the Fraser River to Sapperton Station. The construction of this future station was contingent on the redevelopment of the adjacent 64-acre site, formerly occupied by Woodlands School, a hospital for children with mental disabilities.

In 2019, the segment between Columbia Station and Sapperton Station saw an average of 40,000 passenger movements per weekday.

Location of the potential future Woodlands Station on the Millennium Line in New Westminster. (All Over Vancouver/YouTube)

Location of the potential future Woodlands Station on the Millennium Line in New Westminster. (All Over Vancouver/YouTube)

On the original 1980s-built segment of the Expo Line, there is a potential future station location on Boundary Road, just north of Kingsway — on the Burnaby side of Boundary Road and directly adjacent to the Telus “Boot” office tower. Recently, discussions have emerged between the City of Burnaby and the developers behind the infill redevelopment of the Telus site to explore the feasibility of realizing this station location. This “Central Commons” redevelopment will add five towers to the office tower property, including a total of 2,500 new homes, potentially increasing the need for a new station at this location.

If the construction challenges of Capstan Station are any indication, building the Expo Line’s Boundary Road Station would likely be even more complex and disruptive. The segment between Joyce-Collingwood Station and Patterson Station — where Boundary Road Station would be located — sees a much higher level of ridership, with an average of 122,000 passenger movements per weekday in 2019, highlighting the overwhelming impact such a project could have on passengers.

Located on very busy segments of the SkyTrain network, future stations such as Boundary Road Station, West 33rd Avenue Station, and West 57th Avenue Station should only be seriously considered if there are clear guarantees that construction impacts on SkyTrain services can be significantly mitigated to a much greater extent than what was experienced for Capstan Station. Without such assurances, the disruption to passengers and the overall network could far outweigh the potential benefits of the station.

Artistic rendering of Central Park Commons at the Telus Boot at 3777-3791 Kingsway, Burnaby. (Arcadis/PC Urban)

Site plan of Central Park Commons at the Telus Boot at 3777-3791 Kingsway, Burnaby, with the building heights and phasing depicted. (Arcadis/PC Urban)

Location of the potential future Boundary Road Station on the Expo Line, immediately north of the Telus “Boot” office tower, and the walking distance between the Central Commons development site and Patterson Station. (Google Maps/Daily Hive)

Additionally, strong consideration must be given to the impact of these additional stations on SkyTrain’s overall travel times. Slower travel times could reduce the system’s appeal and competitiveness compared to driving. This concern is particularly relevant for the proposed stations at Boundary Road and West 57th Avenue, which are located on some of SkyTrain’s fastest segments, where trains currently approach their maximum speed of 80 km/hr.

With the addition of Capstan Station, the end-to-end travel time on the Canada Line has increased, as trains must now undergo the deceleration, stoppage, and reacceleration process on what was previously one of the line’s faster segments.

Using the existing BC Parkway pathways beneath the Expo Line’s elevated guideway, the Boundary Road Station location is 800 metres or an 11-minute walk west to Joyce-Collingwood Station, and one km or a 13-minute walk east to Patterson Station. Instead, the City of Burnaby should work with the developers of the Telus “Boot” redevelopment to improve the pedestrian and cycling pathways reaching Patterson Station, including the possibility of a new replacement pedestrian overpass above Kingsway.

In 2017, the City of Vancouver finalized its False Creek Flats Plan, and it included a prescription to ask TransLink to assess the “suitability of a potential future station on the Expo Line at Clark Drive.” Such an additional Expo Line station would be adjacent to the Millennium Line’s existing VCC-Clark Station. However, such a Clark Drive Station for the Expo Line would run into similar challenges as a Boundary Road Station. Moreover, this station is located on the Expo Line’s segment between Commercial-Broadway Station and Main Street-Science World Station, which is by far the busiest segment of the entire SkyTrain network, with an average of over 154,000 passenger movements per weekday in 2019.

Without a comprehensive commuter rail or regional rail network in Metro Vancouver, it is important to note that the SkyTrain network serves the dual purpose of being both an urban rapid transit system and the de facto commuter rail/regional rail network.

December 20, 2024, opening day of SkyTrain Canada Line’s Capstan Station. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

December 20, 2024, opening day of SkyTrain Canada Line’s Capstan Station. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Ultimately, building SkyTrain stations from the outset, rather than as “future” infill stations, is a more efficient and less disruptive approach over the long run. Although there may be higher operating costs until ridership increases, this is ultimately a shorter-term cost compared to the far higher construction costs and the resulting disruptions to services. From the change of zoning policies near stations, it is far easier and less costly to catalyze market-driven development to help build up ridership.

Constructing stations during the initial development phase avoids costly retrofits, minimizes service interruptions, and ensures the network is prepared to meet the demands of growing communities. However, there are some exceptions, such as the future additional station for YVR’s terminal building expansion, which would currently be a “middle-of-nowhere” station if built today.

While the upfront investment may be higher, the long-term benefits — such as seamless operations, enhanced ridership potential, and reduced construction challenges — far outweigh the drawbacks.

Planning for future growth from the beginning creates a more resilient and accessible public transit system that supports sustainable urban development.

If such stations are not built from the outset, they might never be built at all — an outcome that could very well apply to the future subway stations at West 33rd Avenue and West 57th Avenue on the Canada Line.

Prior to Capstan Station, the first and only previous time a station was “added” to an active segment of the SkyTrain network was in November 2003, when Lake City Way Station opened between Sperling-Burnaby Lake and Production Way-University Station. However, the delayed completion of Lake City Way Station was part of the overall construction project for the original Millennium Line, which had a phased opening beginning in 2002.

Here is a complete rundown of the Canada Line’s scheduled service disruptions due to Capstan Station construction, as compiled by Daily Hive Urbanized:

• 2022
  • January 10 to February 2: Reduced frequencies on weekdays and Saturdays daytime only; actually ended earlier than planned on January 19 for 9 days of disruption
  • April 26 to 29: Tuesdays to Fridays reduced frequencies; 4 days of disruption
  • April 30 to June 5: Saturdays and Sundays daytime reduced frequencies; 11 days of disruption
  • July 10 to 14: Early end to service at 10:30 pm in Richmond; actually ended earlier than planned on July 13 for 4 days of disruption
  • August 2 to 4: Early end to service at 10:30 pm in Richmond; 3 days of disruption
  • August 15 to 17: Early end to service at 10:30 pm in Richmond; 3 days of disruption
  • September 6 to 8: Early end to service at 10:30 pm in Richmond; 3 days of disruption
  • October 11 to November 3: Early end to service at 9:30 pm in Richmond from Mondays to Thursdays only; 15 days of disruption
  • November 21 to December 22: Early end to service at 9:30 pm in Richmond from Mondays to Fridays only; cancelled December 19 and from December 20 to 22 due to inclement weather; 20 days of disruption
• 2023
  • January 16 to February 17: Early end to service at 9:30 pm in Richmond from Mondays to Fridays only; cancelled January 20; 24 days of disruption
  • January 10: Reduced frequencies for single tracking in Richmond; 1 day of disruption
  • February 16 to March 10: Early end to service at 9:30 pm in Richmond from Mondays to Fridays only; cancelled February 20 and 22; 15 days of disruption
  • April 11 to May 12: Early end to service at 9:30 pm in Richmond from Mondays to Fridays only; cancelled April 14; 23 days of disruption
  • June 5 to June 16: Early end to service at 9:30 pm in Richmond from Mondays to Fridays only; 10 days of disruption
  • September 5 to December 19: Early end to service at 9:30 pm in Richmond from Mondays to Fridays only; cancelled October 2, 9, and 16, and November 13 and 25; 70 days of disruption
• 2024
  • April 8 to May 24: Early end to service at 9:30 pm in Richmond from Mondays to Fridays only; finished early with normal service restarting May 17; 30 days of disruption
  • August 6 to 30: Early end to service at 9:30 pm in Richmond from Mondays to Fridays only; cancelled August 16; 18 days of disruption
  • October 15 to November 1: Early end to service at 9:30 pm in Richmond from Mondays to Fridays only; 14 days of disruption

This is Part Three of Daily Hive Urbanized’s three-part series on the opening of Capstan Station on SkyTrain’s Canada Line. Part One describes in detail the design features of the new station, while Part Two highlights how Richmond residential developments covered a major portion of the station’s construction.

You might also like:
• 9 design features to know about SkyTrain's newly opened Capstan Station
• How Richmond developers funded half of the construction cost to build SkyTrain's new Capstan Station
• Third SkyTrain station in Port Moody could cost up to $100 million: City report
• New renderings of the design of SkyTrain Oakridge-41st Avenue Station's expansion
• An award-winning unchosen design for SkyTrain Capstan Station (RENDERINGS)