"Looking at ways to improve": TransLink customers voice concerns over Expo Line disruptions

The past 24 hours haven’t been great for transit commuters or TransLink itself, with back-to-back incidents stalling Expo Line service and delaying hundreds of travellers.

Last night, a medical emergency just after 5 pm snarled SkyTrain service for several hours, and then this morning, a police incident had a similar effect.

Daily Hive Urbanized reported that last night’s disruption impacted SkyTrain Expo Line service between Joyce and Royal Oak SkyTrain stations. The disruption lasted for several hours.

We received a TransLink notification of last night’s service disruption just after 6 pm and a separate notification about service being resolved at 9:35 pm.

Bus bridge service was implemented to help people get to where they needed to go, but hundreds of people were at one point waiting at Joyce Station with no bus in sight.

We spoke to TransLink Social Media Relations Advisor Thor Diakow for more information on what went wrong.

“There are many factors at play and many conditions that we’re dealing with when this kind of situation occurs,” Diakow said.

Diakow pointed out that the timing and location of the incidents play a significant role. Unfortunately, last night’s disruption happened smack dab in the middle of the evening rush for commuters in a major commuter area: Metrotown.

“If there’s something outside of peak hours or is at the end of the Expo Line at one of the terminus stations, the impact isn’t as bad,” Diakow added.

We also asked Diakow about the fact that at one point at Joyce, hundreds were waiting for bus service.

Hundreds of people, no buses #translink pic.twitter.com/3G8UmUZfWh

— Teresan36 (@teresan36) January 26, 2024

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Speaking on the bus bridge service to alleviate SkyTrain disruptions, Diakow suggested it’s not a swift process.

“That doesn’t happen quickly,” he said, adding the buses aren’t just sitting there.

“They’re actually on routes in service.”

He pointed out that buses don’t offer the same capacity level as SkyTrain.

“And so that’s where you get this situation where you have crowds building, and it seems to a lot of people like there’s no bus coming,” said Diakow.

“They were just doing their best to get to all of these people, and it was crowded for sure.”

Many reacted to the situation on social media.

Walking to Metrotown significantly faster than waiting around with ~2000 people in a single line.

— Trevor Bradley (@trevor_bradley) January 26, 2024

An hour and a quarter has now passed since you advised that a track intrusion alarm at Stadium Stn had shut down the Expo line in the downtown. Are you waiting for staff to come on shift to check and clear this? It’s been a horrid week for transit riders!

— Bob Ransford (@BobRansford) January 26, 2024

Others commented on rideshare surge pricing.

The typical Lyft from metro to Edmonds my home is $16
During emergency the price shot up to $43 for same ride (actually shorter ride just Edmonds-metro station. Not even my home which is 1.6 km further). Some customers Ubers show $100 for the rides. Many rides accept n cancel 😏

— CHUNG YAN TSO (@CHUNGYANTSO1) January 26, 2024

We asked Diakow about the ongoing labour dispute, but he couldn’t exactly speak to any hypothetical circumstances if more job action occurred amid this scenario.

For any folks looking for compensation for impacts to service, according to Diakow, the only time you can apply for a refund or anything of that nature is if there’s a full-service outage that lasts for three days.

We also asked if TransLink will analyze these service disruptions to help mitigate them more quickly in the future.

“There’s always analysis of these situations, and we’re always looking at ways to improve.”