TransLink buys 30 more new SkyTrain cars for Surrey-Langley extension

TransLink buys 30 more new generation SkyTrain cars for Surrey-Langley extension

The first Mark V SkyTrain train being tested at Alstom's facility in Kingston, Ontario, August 2023. (TransLink)

Even more new generation SkyTrain trains for the Expo Line and Millennium Line will be built.

French train manufacturing giant Alstom announced this week it has finalized a deal with TransLink to provide 30 additional Mark V cars, which will be formed into six five-car-long fully-articulated trains.

The deal for this latest train order is worth $123 million or $4.1 million per car.

This is in addition to the initial order of 205 Mark V cars for 41 five-car-long fully-articulated trains. The initial order was announced in December 2020 — finalized just before Bombardier’s rail division was acquired by Alstom.

The initial order carries a contract value of $723 million or $3.5 million per car.

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At the time of the initial order in 2020, it was stated that TransLink would have the option to order up to 400 additional cars — beyond the initial order — through 2035 for future demand and replacement needs. This potentially brings the contract’s numbers to as many as 605 cars to create 121 five-car-long fully-articulated trains.

“We’re proud and honoured of the continued confidence of TransLink,” said Michael Keroullé, president and CEO of Alstom Americas, in a statement.

“This additional order of our made-in-Canada vehicles, specifically designed for Vancouver SkyTrain, will help improve daily commutes in the Vancouver Greater Area.”

mark v skytrain translink test alstom kingston ontario august 2023

The first Mark V SkyTrain train being tested at Alstom’s facility in Kingston, Ontario, August 2023. (TransLink)

First new Mark V SkyTrain cars being loaded onto flatbed trucks in Kingston, Ontario for delivery, December 2023. (Alstom/C. Fleury)

skytrain mark v train arrival burnaby december 2023

New Mark V SkyTrain cars arrive at TransLink’s Edmonds facility in Burnaby, December 2023. (TransLink)

The Mark V trains are being built and tested in Alstom’s manufacturing plants in Kingston, Ontario, and La Pocatière and Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Quebec.

The first Mark V train from the initial order of 205 cars arrived in December 2023. Following extensive local testing throughout most of this year, it is expected to enter service by late 2024.

The remaining 40 five-car-long fully-articulated trains from the initial order will gradually arrive and enter service between 2024 and 2028.

Alstom did not provide a timeline for when the additional order of cars will arrive, but these trains are expected to serve the needs of the Expo Line’s Surrey-Langley extension opening in late 2028. It was previously indicated by the provincial government that the $4 billion Surrey-Langley extension project includes the procurement of 30 additional cars.

Major construction work on the Expo Line’s extension along Fraser Highway between the existing King George Station and Langley Centre will begin later in 2024. The provincial government is currently in the process of finalizing the three contracts to build the extension, with all of the selected consortiums announced earlier this spring.

Out of the 205 cars from the initial order in 2020, 125 cars (25 trains) will be used to retire the entirety of the fleet of 150 old Mark I cars from the 1980s and early 1990s, 80 cars (16 trains) will increase overall network capacity on both the Expo and Millennium lines, and 30 cars (six trains) will increase capacity on the Millennium Line for the Broadway extension’s opening in Fall 2027.

The Mark V train will be SkyTrain’s longest and highest capacity trains yet, filling up the length of the 80-metre-long station platforms on the Expo and Millennium lines. TransLink is currently overhauling and expanding its operations, maintenance, and storage facilities to accommodate the future new generation fleet, and performing train length-handling upgrades to some stations.

translink mark v skytrain completed 2024

The first completed new generation five-car Mark V train for SkyTrain. (TransLink)

The five-car Mark V train will be able to hold 672 passengers regularly, both seated and standing, while the four-car Mark III train can currently hold 533 passengers. This is an increase of 139 people per train compared to the current largest train, which is the four-car Mark III train.

In terms of crush capacity, the Mark V train can potentially hold up to 1,207 passengers, whereas the Mark III train can handle up to 940 passengers.

These new cars also carry new interior design features, such as improved seating and standing configuration with flex spaces, a large video screen above the doors for the programmable display of useful information, including next station details, and Indigenous art.

Through the exercise of the contracted options until 2035, TransLink could potentially make further orders of the Mark V trains if funding is made available. The public transit authority has indicated the initial batch of 60 Mark II cars — visually distinguished as the white-coloured, two-car-long trains that are typically dedicated to the Millennium Line — could be retired in the early 2030s, at which point the initial batch will reach three decades old. These trains went into service in 2002 when the original Millennium Line opened.

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