SkyTrain's retired iconic Mark I cars spotted being torn apart in scrapyard | Daily Hive

Retired Mark I SkyTrain cars spotted being destroyed in a Surrey scrapyard on Jan. 9, 2025. (Chris Cassidy/submitted)

The end of an era for Metro Vancouver public transit has clearly begun, with TransLink now making progress on its process of retiring the Mark I SkyTrain cars — including sending these old trains to the scrapyard.

Some of these original trains, which carried generations of SkyTrain passengers across the region, were pulled from service starting in the second half of 2025, as the new generation Mark V trains begin to replace the original aging fleet on the Expo and Millennium lines.

The Mark I cars — distinguished by their boxy aluminum frame — were SkyTrain’s original trains, entering service in the 1980s and early 1990s.

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Not only have the Mark I trains reached the end of their reliable lifespan, but there is a need to remove them to make space in the limited storage capacity at SkyTrain’s trainyards for the incoming five-car-long Mark V trains.

TransLink hopes to save at least some of these iconic cars and has opened a process to seek proposals from municipal governments, businesses, and other organizations to repurpose the cars for creative new uses in the community that celebrate their heritage.

As of early 2025, the public transit authority received 11 proposals from this process, which is still ongoing. In Fall 2025, the first reuse was publicly unveiled, with Lumostage Virtual Production repurposing and stripping down one Mark I car for its use as Canada’s first and only standing subway train set for film and television productions. The company’s studio is located in Langley Township.

The Narrow Group, in partnership with Apartment Sage, publicly announced their proposal to convert some of the cars into mobile artist studios, but it has yet to be realized. TransLink is expected to reveal more selected projects over time.

The first retired Mark I SkyTrain car repurposed for a film set at Lumostage Virtual Production studio in Langley Township. (Lumostage Virtual Production)

The first Mark I SkyTrain car entering retirement, and being relocated to the Lumostage Virtual Production studio facility. (TransLink)

There are 150 cars in the Mark I fleet, all of which must be retired as more Mark V trains come online over the next few years.

TransLink is currently receiving one five-car Mark V train at a pace of about one per month. As of early November 2025, five Mark V trains (25 cars) were in service, with another three trains undergoing testing.

The first Mark V train entered service in July 2025, and by 2029 TransLink is set to receive a total of 235 Mark V cars forming 47 five-car trains. These new modern, higher-capacity, and more comfortable trains will not only replace the aging Mark I fleet but also boost overall capacity on the Expo and Millennium lines and provide the additional capacity needed for the Broadway and Surrey-Langley extensions opening later this decade.

The first Mark I SkyTrain car entering retirement. (TransLink)

To provide further context on just how many of these Mark I cars exist, if all 150 cars — each 12.7 metres in length — were lined up end to end, they would span a distance of roughly two kilometres. This is a distance equivalent to Robson Street between Denman Street in the West End and Beatty Street next to BC Place Stadium.

As a result, only a small number of Mark I cars are likely to be preserved for new creative uses once the retirement process is complete. The final Mark I cars are expected to be retired by 2027.

With all that said, many — if not the vast majority — of the Mark I cars are likely destined for scrap recycling. They have reached the end of their line.

New photos shared by local transit enthusiast Chris Cassidy with Daily Hive Urbanized show just that. On Friday afternoon, he saw some Mark I cars partly torn apart, destroyed, and reduced to scrap metal at a Surrey recycling yard.

Needless to say, the sight is a surreal one, given how familiar the Mark I cars have been to riders for decades. For some, the trains are iconic defining symbols of SkyTrain; for others, their retirement is a much-welcomed change, as these aging worn-down cars are known for their tighter interiors, rough ride, extremely high noise levels, and limited ventilation, including the absence of air conditioning.

skytrain mark i trains scrapyard junkyard january 2026

Retired Mark I SkyTrain cars spotted being destroyed in a Surrey scrapyard on Jan. 9, 2025. (Chris Cassidy/submitted)

Some of the scrapped cars in the photos carried TransLink’s modern charcoal grey, yellow, and blue livery, suggesting they were among the Mark I fleet that received upgrades in the mid-2010s to extend their service life, rather than the non-refurbished units that retained the BC Transit-era white paint scheme with blue and red striping.

The Mark II cars that entered service in the 2000s are not too far behind the Mark I fleet in terms of retirement. As previously reported by Daily Hive Urbanized, TransLink is expected to exercise its options in 2026 with train manufacturer Alstom to build additional Mark V trains to retire and replace the entire Mark II fleet.

At its plants in Eastern Canada, Alstom is expected to continue building Mark V trains well beyond 2029, after the current batch from the initial orders is completed. Under current plans, Mark II cars introduced in the early 2000s are scheduled for retirement in the early 2030s, while those that entered service in the late 2000s are set to be retired later in the 2030s. The cost to order new Mark V cars to replace the early-2000s batch of 60 Mark II cars is currently estimated to be about $433 million.

Repurposing trains for new creative uses is not uncommon elsewhere in the world. For example, in Hong Kong and Montreal, retired subway cars have been transformed into permanent, whimsical community landmarks within new prominent public spaces. In New York City, many old subway cars were previously stripped down and deliberately sunk in designated ocean locations to create artificial reefs, producing significant long-term benefits for marine ecosystems.

1985 skytrain expo line mark i car construction

Unveiling of the first Mark I car for SkyTrain’s Expo Line in 1985. (TransLink)

skytrain expo line terminal avenue demonstration line 1983 mark i

Prototype Mark I train during SkyTrain’s demonstration line period in 1982. (TransLink)

SkyTrain Mark I cars. (Sage Apartment/The Narrow Group)

Interior of a SkyTrain Mark I car. (Kenneth Chan)

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