$148 million in new federal funding for SkyTrain station renovations, new train yard

Artistic rendering of SkyTrain Burrard Station's upgrades and expansion. (TransLink)

Late last week, the federal government quietly made a significant pre-election funding announcement towards expanding and improving SkyTrain infrastructure.

TransLink will receive a combined total of about $148 million for three projects that are each critical to Metro Vancouver’s rail rapid transit network.

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The largest federal commitment is $95 million towards the construction of the new additional operations and maintenance facility for SkyTrain’s Expo and Millennium lines, located on a 27.5-acre industrial site at 225 North Road in Coquitlam near Braid Station.

The future site of the new SkyTrain OMC at 225 North Road in Coquitlam. (Google Maps)

Proposed layout of SkyTrain’s OMC 4 at 225 North Road, Coquitlam. (TransLink)

The new train yard, named OMC 4, is necessary to accommodate most of TransLink’s order of 205 new SkyTrain cars (41 five-car trains) arriving between 2023 and 2027.

OMC 4 will cover the storage and maintenance requirements for about 145 cars. Major construction is expected to begin in October 2022 for completion in early 2026, just in time for the storage capacity increase needed to accommodate the surge in the arrival of the new incoming fleet of trains.

TransLink is also contributing over $142 million towards the OMC 4 project. Records show TransLink spent $82.5 million to acquire the property for the facility in March 2020.

“This new funding for the Operations and Maintenance Centre will allow us to store and maintain new SkyTrain cars required for the Broadway Subway Project and Surrey Langley SkyTrain,” said Jeffrey Busby, active vice president of engineering for TransLink, in a statement.

“We thank our partners with the Government of Canada for this investment that will help keep transit running safely, efficiently, and reliably for years to come.”

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)

The federal government is also providing $25 million towards expanding the length of the station platforms on the Expo and Millennium lines to accommodate the new five-car trains, which reach a length of 85 metres.

This longer train length exceeds the size of some stations, and the additional capacity of the trains is more than what some stations can currently handle in passenger flows.

Up to 30 guideway walkways will be extended, guideway intrusion monitoring systems will be modified, and platforms will see improvements for riders with disabilities.

Artistic rendering of the expansion and renovation of SkyTrain Burrard Station. (TransLink)

Another $28 million in federal funding will go towards covering the cost of the $72-million upgrade of SkyTrain Burrard Station. This project will significantly expand Burrard Station’s ability to handle future ridership growth, with the installation of additional escalators and elevators reaching the underground levels, as well as improvements to the station entrance and plaza, and renovations to cameras, signage, and public announcement systems.

Construction on the Burrard Station project beginning in early 2022 will necessitate a full two-year closure of the major transit hub.

Artistic rendering of the expansion and renovation of SkyTrain Burrard Station. (TransLink)

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