SkyTrain begins five months of overnight tests for its new driverless train 'brain' | Daily Hive

SkyTrain's Lougheed Town Centre Station. (Kenneth Chan)

People living near SkyTrain’s Expo and Millennium lines may hear trains after scheduled passenger service ends, as TransLink begins testing running the fully-automated metro system using the brand-new control centre through months of overnight testing.

The overnight testing gets underway this weekend and is expected to last about five months through early 2027. Every type of train model used on the two lines will be tested, with no passengers aboard. TransLink notes that this overnight work is being performed to not disrupt or reduce regular service.

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The scheduled testing window on Saturdays runs from 1:45 to 5:45 a.m. Testing is also planned between 1:45 and 6:45 a.m. on Sundays and 12:45 and 4:45 a.m. on select Mondays over the next five months.

Nearby residents living near the outdoor sections of the guideways for the Expo and Millennium lines may notice trains at hours when the tracks would normally be quiet. To limit the disturbance, TransLink will move testing between different sections of the network and turn off alarms and announcements where possible.

As previously reported by Daily Hive Urbanized, the work will help prepare the new Operations Control Centre building — entailing a staffed large control centre and a data centre for controlling the driverless trains and other systems — for its opening and operations in 2027. During the tests, the facility will progressively assume control of trains so SkyTrain staff can check how it handles everyday operations, maintenance, and emergencies.

The control centre serves as the brain and nerve centre of the driverless Expo and Millennium lines. This project essentially gives it a brand-new, highly-advanced brain and nerve centre, replacing the existing use of a facility built in the 1980s.

skytrain operations control centre building burnaby edmonds omc2 september 2026

Testing progress on SkyTrain’s new Operations Control Centre building, September 2026. (TransLink)

TransLink notes that SkyTrain’s network has grown to roughly four times its original size, while its operations control space has not been expanded since 1985.

The $360-million, new state-of-the-art control centre will support the Millennium Line’s Broadway extension opening in late 2027, the Expo Line’s Surrey-Langley extension opening in late 2029, and further extensions and growth over the long-term.

TransLink expects the new centre will improve reliability and help the system accommodate the expanding network.