Got an idea for a new use? You can soon own old SkyTrain cars

TransLink seeking ideas for reusing old SkyTrain cars entering retirement

SkyTrain Mark I car on the Expo Line. (Macklin Holloway/Shutterstock)

SkyTrain’s oldest cars, dating back to the 1980s and early 1990s, are now officially entering retirement, and the hope now is that some of these cars can be repurposed and relocated to commemorate their historical use on Metro Vancouver’s rapid transit network.

The entire aging fleet of about 150 Mark I cars will be retired over the coming years, before the end of this decade, as TransLink’s new replacement and expanded fleet of 235 new generation Mark V cars arrive.

The first few five-car-long Mark V trains have arrived in Metro Vancouver and have been undergoing extensive testing in preparation for entering service, with these new cars set to fully retire all Mark I cars through 2026.

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TransLink has now launched a bidding process seeking interested community organizations, developers, municipal governments, and individuals to submit their creative and innovative proposals to relocate and reuse the Mark I cars.

SkyTrain Mark I cars. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

This proposal intake will close on December 6, 2024, and it will reopen at a later date when more Mark I cars are retired.

The successful proponents will be responsible for covering the full cost of moving the Mark I cars from SkyTrain’s operations and maintenance facility and the repurposing of the cars.

The plan to retire the Mark I cars has been in the works for many years; in 2019, Daily Hive Urbanized also theorized 12 possible ideas of how these aging iconic SkyTrain cars can be reused and repurposed, such as public art, new functional centrepieces at public plazas and parks, and food/vending kiosks, based on examples found elsewhere around the world of how old train cars are given a new useful life.

SkyTrain Mark I car. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Mark I SkyTrain cars during snowfall. (Macklin Holloway/Shutterstock)

TransLink is also considering the retirement of the first 60 Mark II cars that arrived and went into service in the early 2000s, coinciding with the opening of the original Millennium Line. To support the strategy of decommissioning or extending the lifespan of the oldest Mark II cars with some upgrades, the public transit authority is currently looking for a contractor to identify the feasibility of making various necessary improvements to better determine the cost and tradeoffs.

Altogether, TransLink has ordered a total of 235 Mark V cars (47 five-car trains), including 205 cars (41 five-car trains) from the original order made in December 2020 and the exercise of an option for 30 more cars (six five-car trains) in May 2024 to support the SkyTrain Expo Line’s future Surrey-Langley extension.

Out of the original order for 205 Mark V cars, 125 cars will be used to replace the 150 Mark I cars, 80 cars (16 five-car trains) will be used to increase the overall network capacity on both the Expo and Millennium lines, and 30 cars (six five-car trains) will increase the capacity on SkyTrain Millennium Line’s Broadway extension.

These will also be the longest and highest-capacity trains in use on the entire SkyTrain network, filling the length of the 80-metre station platforms. The five-car Mark V train will be able to hold 672 passengers regularly, both seated and standing, while the four-car Mark III train can currently hold 533 passengers. This is an increase of 139 people per train compared to the four-car Mark III train.

Under crush capacity, the Mark V train can potentially hold up to 1,207 passengers, whereas the Mark III train can handle up to 940 passengers.

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