It's official: Major construction now underway on 16-km-long Surrey-Langley SkyTrain
Although no official groundbreaking ceremony with dignitaries and media has taken place yet, major construction work is now officially well underway for the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension.
Following the contracted schedule to meet the completion and opening day deadline in late 2029, major construction work on this Expo Line extension project unceremoniously began in November 2024 and has greatly accelerated ever since.
After an inquiry last week, the BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit confirmed to Daily Hive Urbanized today that major construction has officially begun.
“Major construction on the Surrey Langley SkyTrain extension, including piling and foundation construction, began in November. The Province will provide updates as the Project progresses,” reads the statement to Daily Hive Urbanized.
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The start of major construction followed the provincial government’s selection of the three major private consortiums to build the project and the finalization of their respective contracts in August 2024. The current activity builds on the site preparation work completed earlier.
A groundbreaking ceremony — delayed to date likely due to the provincial election last fall — is likely to take place in early 2025.
November 2024 construction progress on 152nd Street Station of Surrey-Langley SkyTrain. (Government of BC)
November 2024 construction progress on 152nd Street Station of Surrey-Langley SkyTrain. (Government of BC)
November 2024 construction progress on Langley City Centre Station of Surrey-Langley SkyTrain. (Government of BC)
So far, for example, foundational piling work is underway at the site of the future Bakerview-166th Street Station, Langley City Centre Station, and 152nd Street Station, along with drilling and concrete pouring work. Traffic disruption advisories have been issued along the Fraser Highway route.
As well, construction is well underway on building a temporary years-long manufacturing plant for fabricating the 5,000 elevated guideway concrete pre-cast segments.
The plant is being built on a 30-acre vacant industrial site in Campbell Heights, owned by the City of Surrey. From the plant, the pre-fabricated segments will be transported by truck to the Fraser Highway corridor’s construction site for installation.
October 2024 construction progress in Campbell Heights on the temporary pre-cast yard for fabricating the concrete segments of Surrey-Langley SkyTrain. (Government of BC)
November 2024 construction progress in Campbell Heights on the temporary pre-cast yard for fabricating the concrete segments of Surrey-Langley SkyTrain. (Government of BC)
November 2024 construction progress in Campbell Heights on the temporary pre-cast yard for fabricating the concrete segments of Surrey-Langley SkyTrain. (Government of BC)
This marks the first time ever in Metro Vancouver’s history that multiple SkyTrain extension projects have overlapping construction timelines, with the Millennium Line’s six-km-long Broadway extension to Arbutus currently under construction for an opening in Fall 2027. Construction on the Broadway extension first began in Spring 2021.
Before the end of this decade, when the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension is also complete, TransLink’s SkyTrain network size will grow to a total length of 101 km with 67 stations.
The 16-km-long Expo Line extension will be 100% elevated along Fraser Highway between the existing King George Station in Surrey City Centre and the new Langley City Centre Station terminus. It will add a total of eight new stations to the network.
The provincial government had previously anticipated the project could be built by late 2028, but this was delayed by one year to late 2029 following the awarding of the projects. Also, as announced in August 2024, the cost of the project has increased by 50% from the previous estimate of $3.94 billion to $5.996 billion. The provincial government attributed the cost increase to challenging market conditions, leading to inflated prices for materials, labour, and equipment.
November 2024 revised design for Bakerview-166th Street Station on the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension. (Government of BC)
November 2024 revised design for Green Timbers Station on the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension. (Government of BC)
November 2024 revised design for Green Timbers Station on the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension. (Government of BC)
The contracted consortium of Skylink Guideway Partners (comprised of Dragados Canada, Ledcor, and SYSTRA International Bridge Technologies) is building the 16-km-long elevated guideway.
South Fraser Station Partners (comprised of Aecon Group, Acciona Infrastructure, Pomerleau, Aecom, Francl Architecture, and Perkins&Will) are responsible for the design and construction of the eight new stations, bus exchanges, and nearby pedestrian sidewalk and bike lanes. In November 2024, the provincial government revealed the near-finalized detailed designs of the eight stations by architectural design firms Francl Architecture and Perkins&Will.
Transit Integrators BC (composed of AtkinsRéalis, previously known as SNC Lavalin, and Western Pacific Enterprises) will install the tracks, electrical systems, and automated control.
For the construction of the Canada Line and the Millennium Line’s Evergreen extension, the provincial government selected one consortium to be responsible for all aspects of the project’s final detailed design and construction. However, the work was split into three separate major contracts to seek more competitive prices and encourage more local firms to bid for the work.
Site of SkyTrain’s future OMC5 at 17916 Fraser Highway, Surrey, along the future Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension of the Expo Line. (Government of BC/Daily Hive)
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- Finalized designs of the eight new multi-coloured stations on Surrey-Langley SkyTrain
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- Broadway Subway opening further delayed until Fall 2027
- 30-acre vacant City of Surrey-owned site to be used to fabricate SkyTrain extension's concrete segments
- 37-acre site in Surrey acquired for SkyTrain operations and maintenance centre
- 8-km-long Highway 1 widening in Abbotsford to cost $2.65 billion
- 9 design features to know about SkyTrain's newly opened Capstan Station