Surrey mayor makes campaign promise for new SkyTrain to Newton

Conceptual depiction by the SkyTrain For Surrey advocacy group of what a Fraser Highway SkyTrain station could look like. (SkyTrain For Surrey)

Four years ago, Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum vowed to cancel the Surrey Newton-Guildford light rail transit (SNG LRT) project in favour of advancing a larger SkyTrain Expo Line extension on the Fraser Highway corridor.

The SNG LRT project, which was highly controversial and saw significant public opposition, was swiftly cancelled following the 2018 civic election when McCallum’s Safe Surrey Coalition party secured an overwhelming majority.

In lieu of SNG LRT, construction on the $4-billion, 16-km-long, eight-station Expo Line extension from King George Station to Langley Centre is now slated to begin in 2024 for an opening in 2028.

Ahead of the 2022 civic election, McCallum announced today another future SkyTrain route will be one of the main pillars for his upcoming re-election platform. This is a promise for a SkyTrain extension along King George Boulevard from Surrey City Centre to Newton.

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“We have heard loud and clear from Surrey residents that they want SkyTrain to Newton and as part of Safe Surrey Coalitions’ 2022 campaign, one of the main pillars of our platform will be to build SkyTrain from King George station to Newton,” reads a statement by McCallum, who is currently facing a court battle and public calls for his resignation over his legal controversies.

“SkyTrain to Newton will spur economic growth along the corridor and help us fight climate change by providing an alternative mode of transportation. Safe Surrey Coalition will deliver on its promise to build SkyTrain to Newton. We will get it done,” continues the statement, which would effectively provide the cancelled SNG LRT corridor with rail transit.

Within its 10-year priorities through 2031, other than firmly advancing UBC SkyTrain, TransLink has outlined the possibility of two additional SkyTrain extensions, including a short Millennium Line extension from Coquitlam Central Station to reach downtown Port Coquitlam and an Expo Line extension from Surrey City Centre to Newton via King George Boulevard.

In 2019, TransLink estimated extending SkyTrain southwards along King George Boulevard to reach Newton — a distance of roughly seven kms — would cost between $1.2 billion and $1.4 billion. Upgrading the existing R1 RapidBus route segment along 104 Avenue from Surrey Central Station to Guildford Town Centre — another portion of the cancelled SNG LRT route — would cost about $300 million.

This SkyTrain and RapidBus combination on the cancelled SNG LRT corridor would attract a total ridership of 55,000 to 60,000 daily riders by 2050 — between 33,000 and 38,000 more riders daily than the status quo RapidBus, and up to 10,000 more than reviving SNG LRT.

In addition to the possibility of planning for SkyTrain to Newton, TransLink’s 10-year priorities also call for a southward extension of the existing R1 King George Boulevard RapidBus from Newton to White Rock, and at least three new RapidBus routes that serve Surrey: a new RapidBus from Guildford Town Centre to Newton via 152nd Street; a new RapidBus from Langley to White Rock via 24th Avenue; and a new RapidBus route from Carvolth exchange to Scott Road Station via 96th Avenue.

Additionally, the future R6 Scott Road RapidBus — launching in 2023 — from Scott Road Station to Newton would be upgraded to a bus rapid transit (BRT) standard. There would also be an upgrade of the R1 King George Boulevard RapidBus to a BRT standard between Surrey and White Rock.

In a statement today, Surrey First City Councillor Linda Annis suggests the controversies surrounding McCallum could lead to a new makeup of City Council pushing for additional public transit investments after this fall’s civic election.

The Surrey First party, which governed Surrey for a decade prior to the 2018 civic election, under the leadership of Dianne Watts and then Linda Hepner, previously strongly advocated for light rail transit and spearheaded the specific direction for SNG LRT.

“Increasing transit across our city into every neighbourhood is a real priority, and frankly Newton should have been included from the very start in the provincial plan to build to Langley. While we are looking to build east/west transit across our city we should also be building transit north/south from King George into Cloverdale, South Surrey, and White Rock,” said Annis.

“Frankly, I believe when it comes to transit, investments in Surrey should at least match Vancouver dollar-for-dollar. That’s what I would be pushing for with Ottawa and Victoria because very few places can match Surrey for growth. The fact is, if we want to see more jobs in our city and less commuting to work outside of our city, we need to provide a lot more transit options. Better transit is good for the environment, it’s good for job creation, and it opens up new affordable housing options.”

The civic election is scheduled for October 15, 2022.

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