Transit fans line up for first crack at TransLink's trading cards | Daily Hive

Transit fans line up for first crack at TransLink's limited-edition trading cards

Lineup for TransLink's first trading cards, one hour before the giveaway begins on Aug. 8, 2025. (Kenneth Chan)

Public transit enthusiasts and curious commuters alike lined up early outside Waterfront Station this morning, eager to be among the first to snag TransLink’s brand-new collectible trading cards.

The limited-edition cards — featuring iconic transit vehicles — drew steady crowds as eager fans vied for one of just 800 free starter packs being handed out at the public transit authority’s Customer Service Centre inside the station. Each starter pack contains three random cards.

As of just over an hour before the free giveaway began at 11 a.m. today, the line of eager fans had snaked from the indoor entrance of the Customer Service Centre and out into the adjacent parking lot east of Waterfront Station — and it was still growing.

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With only a handful of the rarest cards in circulation, the race to collect them all is officially on.

Lineup for TransLink’s first trading cards, one hour before the giveaway begins on Aug. 8, 2025. (Kenneth Chan)

As previously reported by Daily Hive Urbanized yesterday, the initial limited-edition collection features five unique designs that pay tribute to TransLink’s fleet, including the original Mark V SkyTrain car, the new generation Mark V SkyTrain car, the West Coast Express commuter rail locomotive, the Indigenous-themed Burrard Chinook SeaBus ferry, and the Nova LFS CNG bus.

The two rarest cards are the Mark I SkyTrain, with only 15 copies made, and the West Coast Express, with 100 copies made. All Mark I SkyTrain cars, which were built in the 1980s and early 1990s, will be retired over the coming years, replaced by the incoming arrivals of the new Mark V SkyTrain vehicles.

The front side of each card showcases a bold image of the featured vehicle, while the back side shimmers with a holographic finish and a collection of fun facts — including top speed, power source, passenger capacity, dimensions, year of introduction, and how many operators are needed to run it.

Two of the five unique designs of TransLink’s first trading cards. (Kenneth Chan)

Two of the five unique designs of TransLink’s first trading cards. (Kenneth Chan)

TransLink trading cards. (TransLink)

If you were not able to make it to the first giveaway today, you will still have chances to collect cards at upcoming summer events like the PNE Fair and Car Free Days, through surprise handouts by TransLink staff, and online contests.

Just keep in mind — it is one card per person at each opportunity, so completing the set won’t be easy.

Created by TransLink’s own design team, the cards are strictly for fun and don’t work as fare payment — they do not function as Compass Cards. For now, the five-card series is all that’s planned, making a full set a limited and unique find.

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