End of the line in sight for two generations of old SkyTrain cars

The original SkyTrain Mark I cars (left) will be fully retired by 2027, while the Mark II cars (right) will be retired starting in the early 2030s. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

It has been known for years that TransLink has plans to retire SkyTrain’s entire fleet of Mark I cars — dating back to the 1980s and early 1990s — before the end of this decade.

The majority of TransLink’s forthcoming new fleet of Mark V cars, ordered at a cost of $723 million, will serve the primary purpose of replacing the entire Mark I fleet.

But as it turns out, the end of the line is also in sight for the second generation cars that operate on the Expo and Millennium lines.

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These Mark II cars built by Bombardier Transportation (now known as Alstom) were added to the SkyTrain system in the early 2000s, coinciding with the 2002 opening of the original Millennium Line. At this juncture, TransLink added an initial batch of 60 Mark II cars, which are currently visually distinguished as the white-coloured, two-car-long trains that are typically dedicated to the Millennium Line.

TransLink spokesperson Dan Mountain told Daily Hive Urbanized the current plan is to start retiring some Mark II cars in the early 2030s, at which point the initial batch will reach three decades old.

The Mark II fleet is forecasted to run a distance of 18 million km in 2023, with a drop to 17 million km in 2027, 14 million km in 2028, and nine million km in both 2030 and 2031.

Early 2000s SkyTrain Mark I cars. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

skytrain commercial-broadway station mark ii train 9

Early 2000s model SkyTrain Mark II train. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

In 2023, the forecasted annual distance per fleet model is 16 million km for Mark I, 18 million km for Mark II, and 17 million km for Mark III, for a total of 51 million km across all models.

By 2032, the Mark V will be responsible for the vast majority of service levels on the Expo and Millennium lines, reaching 68 million km — followed by 12 million km for the Mark III and 10 million km for the Mark II, for a total of 91 million annual km. The totals reflect both increased general service levels for the entire network and the opening of the Millennium Line Broadway Extension and Expo Line Surrey-Langley Extension.

The remaining 48 Mark II cars that will remain in operation are the second batch with upgraded features that arrived between 2009 and 2010.

Early 2000s SkyTrain Mark I cars. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Early 2000s model SkyTrain Mark II train. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Mountain notes the Mark I cars will be retired gradually as the new Mark V cars arrive.

TransLink’s forecasted annual operating distances show the Mark I fleet will drop to nine million km in 2025 and two million km in 2026.

The first new five-car Mark V train is scheduled to arrive in late 2023, with all 41 five-car Mark V trains (205 Mark V cars) arriving by 2028. Some Mark I cars will be retired in 2024, and all 150 of SkyTrain’s oldest cars from this first generation model will be fully retired by 2027.

Mountain adds that the public transit authority is currently exploring options for how to retire and dispose of the large number of Mark I cars, and no final decision has been made at this time. If all Mark I cars were lined up end to end, they would span a distance of two km or the equivalent of the segment of Robson Street between Denman and Beatty streets.

This will be a welcome change for SkyTrain riders, with the Mark I cars offering smaller passenger capacities, poor heating and ventilation, no air conditioning, poor noise insulation, and aging interior finishings.

As well, the initial Mark II cars are also really beginning to show their age.

1980s/early 1990s SkyTrain Mark I cars. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

1980s/early 1990s SkyTrain Mark I car. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

The Mark III cars, a total of 21 four-car-long trains (84 cars), arrived in the latter half of the 2010s, and are currently the newest model of SkyTrain. These cars are fully articulated, meaning passengers can walk through the entire length of all four cars through their accordion-like links.

The next generation Mark V cars are essentially a significantly upgraded version of the Mark III model. Not only are they longer five-car-long, fully-articulated trains, but they offer an improved seating configuration and new features, including overhead LCD digital displays to provide the real-time location of the train on the system map and other useful information.

Although the 125 Mark V cars arriving by 2027 will be used to retire the Mark I fleet and to meet the capacity increase needs of the Broadway Extension’s opening in 2026, the remaining 80 cars in the current 205-car order will be dedicated to improving the system’s overall capacity.

Under the agreement with Bombardier Transportation, TransLink has the option to order up to an additional 400 Mark V cars through 2035 for future demand and replacement needs, which potentially brings the fleet numbers to as many as 605 Mark V cars to create 121 five-car trains. This could be exercised to retire the initial batch of Mark II cars.

2023 updated artistic rendering of the Mark V SkyTrain car. (TransLink)

The first Mark V cars for SkyTrain being assembled at Alstom’s factory in Quebec, Summer 2022. (TransLink)

Mark V SkyTrain mockup (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

TransLink is making various major investments to accommodate the larger storage and maintenance space needs of the Mark V cars, including upgrades of the existing main operations and maintenance centre (OMC) near Edmonds Station, and the construction of a new additional major OMC near Braid Station in Coquitlam.

There are also plans to build another major OMC near the Langley terminus of the Expo Line Surrey-Langley Extension. Infrastructure BC noted this spring that the provincial government will take on this Langley OMC project, with some construction potentially beginning in 2023.

The BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure told Daily Hive Urbanized the Langley OMC is needed to support the Expo Line extension and the broader network needs of the Expo and Millennium lines.

“The Province has been working with TransLink and municipalities to confirm a site that meets operational requirements [for the Langley OMC],” states the Ministry.

“Details are still being worked out, and there will be more to share in due course on location, timing and cost.”

Construction on the 16-km-long Expo Line Surrey-Langley Extension is expected to begin in 2024 for an opening in 2028. The Langley OMC is not part of the $4-billion extension project.

TransLink also has plans to buy a new replacement fleet of trolley buses in the late 2020s, as the existing fleet from the 2000s is now nearing the end of their lifespan.

Mark I SkyTrain cars during snowfall. (Shutterstock)

Old disabled buttons on the old SkyTrain Mark I cars. (MetroElfren/YouTube screenshot)

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