TransLink begins $78-million upgrade of SkyTrain stations to prepare for longer five-car trains in the future

Feb 17 2023, 2:35 am

Over the coming years, SkyTrain riders on the Expo and Millennium lines will notice some construction work being performed on the platforms of select stations, especially at the ends of the platforms.

But unlike the ongoing disruptive construction for the new Capstan Station on the Canada Line, there will be no impacts to services.

This work is necessary to ensure all stations on both the Expo Line and Millennium Line can handle TransLink’s forthcoming order of new-generation, five-car-long Mark V trains.

These five-car Mark V trains are essentially a one-car longer version of the existing four-car Mark III train, which is currently the newest model in use — in operation since 2016. Like the Mark III, the future Mark V cars will be interconnected by walk-through, accordion-like articulated connections, and there will be major interior design improvements for added passenger comfort.

The five-car trains will be by far the longest trains on the SkyTrain network, maximizing the entire length of the platforms, which are typically about 80 metres from end to end. At select stations, some work needs to be performed to ensure the stations can handle trains that are as long as the platform.

skytrain mark iii train 2020s generation f

December 2020 artistic rendering of the new Bombardier Metro 300 (Mark III) trains for TransLink’s new SkyTrain car order. (TransLink)

skytrain mark v installation 2022

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

Dan Mountain, a spokesperson for TransLink, told Daily Hive Urbanized work is now underway on the so-called “Station Access and Safety Project.”

However, added length to the platforms will not be necessary — most of the work involves repositioning equipment and systems. This project’s five categories of work entail improving existing emergency exit points or adding new staircases, filling gaps between the train doors and platforms at some stations, relocating guideway intrusion alarms at stations to ensure longer trains do not trigger the alarms, and moving employee guideway walkways.

Mountain notes some stations will require upgrades for all five categories of work, while others will require work in only some categories.

Currently, work is underway on the platforms of Waterfront Station. Other stations that have been scheduled to receive work starting later this year include Royal Oak Station, Edmonds Station, 22nd Street Station, New Westminster Station, Sapperton Station, Lougheed Town Centre Station, and Gateway Station. Work on the remaining stations have not been scheduled, but the project will be fully completed by 2026.

This project is expected to cost $77.8 million, with the federal government covering $28 million.

The first Mark V train is expected to arrive in late 2023 or early 2024, and the entire order of 205 new cars — forming 41 five-car Mark V trains — will fully arrive by 2028. This order — for service expansion, the Millennium Line Broadway Extension, and retiring the original Mark I fleet — comes at a cost of $723 million, and it is being built by Alstom, which recently acquired Bombardier Transportation.

TransLink is also in the process of upgrading and expanding its maintenance and storage facilities to handle the longer trains, including the construction of a new additional major SkyTrain operations and maintenance centre in Coquitlam, near Braid Station, that can handle about 300 cars. This new facility will cost over $300 million.

Separately, construction is expected to begin soon on integrating the Canada Line’s existing Broadway-City Hall Station with the future Millennium Line Broadway Extension to create a major transfer interchange between both SkyTrain lines. This includes building direct underground pathways between the platform levels of the Canada Line and the Millennium Line, as well as a 10-metre extension of the Canada Line platforms — reaching a full length of 50 metres — to provide the station with more circulation and waiting capacity to handle a substantial growth in ridership, starting in 2026 when the new subway opens.

broadway-city hall station hub

Diagram showing the interchange hub between the Millennium Line and Canada Line at Broadway-City Hall Station. (Government of BC)

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