Busy Downtown Vancouver SkyTrain station's fare gate capacity increased by 66% | Daily Hive

New fare gates installed at SkyTrain's Yaletown-Roundhouse Station, as seen on June 1, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)

The ingress and egress capacity of passengers flowing through the fare gates of SkyTrain’s Yaletown-Roundhouse Station has now increased by 66 per cent.

After about three months of installation work, TransLink has now opened two new additional fare gates at this Canada Line station — rising from three to a total of five fare gates.

One of the additional fare gates also provides the station with a second wide-entry accessible gate.

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The original three fare gates installed at the station were the hardest-working fare gates on the entire public transit system, processing more passengers per day than any other station due to the limited number of fare gates and the station’s high and growing ridership, including periods of surge ridership due to major events held nearby.

During busier periods, the previous setup of three bidirectional fare gates at Yaletown-Roundhouse Station forced passengers entering and exiting the station to wait for others moving in the opposite direction before they can pass through, creating frequent congestion.

With very limited redundancy, accessibility and capacity were also greatly hindered whenever a fare gate broke down.

skytrain yaletown roundhouse station fare gates

New fare gates installed at SkyTrain’s Yaletown-Roundhouse Station, as seen on June 1, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)

In 2024, Yaletown-Roundhouse Station saw 3.055 million boardings per year, ranking it as SkyTrain’s 21st busiest station, with passenger volumes being lower at the time compared to the pre-pandemic period due to factors such as the sustained semi-remote office work practices.

The station saw 2024 ridership averages of 8,950 per weekday, 7,964 per Saturday, and 6,330 per Sunday/holiday. Each weekday in 2024, each of the three original fare gates processed an average of 2,980 passengers per day — a decrease compared to 2017 figures, but still very high.

According to TransLink, as another example, during Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour concert dates in December 2024, Waterfront Station’s fare gates averaged about 3,800 taps per gate each day, while Yaletown-Roundhouse Station saw an average of nearly 8,000 taps per gate.

New fare gates installed at SkyTrain’s Yaletown-Roundhouse Station, as seen on June 1, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)

However, Yaletown-Roundhouse Station will not be a convenient SkyTrain access point for spectators attending and leaving the seven FIFA World Cup matches held at BC Place Stadium.

Spectators will be required to arrive at the venue using the designated “Last Mile” pedestrian route along Pacific Boulevard/Quebec Street from SkyTrain’s Main Street-Science World Station to the security screening area at Carrall Street. Both Yaletown-Roundhouse Station and Stadium-Chinatown Station will not be the usual direct, shortest routes to the stadium from SkyTrain during the tournament, but both stations will remain open for local access and service.

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