Vancouver SkyTrain

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The SkyTrain in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is an Advanced Rapid Transit system operating fully-automated trains on two lines. Built for the Expo 86 World's Fair, it has since become the world's longest automated light rapid transit system utilizing the world's longest transit-only bridge, the SkyBridge. The system uses the same family of linear induction motor-driven trains as the Scarborough RT line in Toronto, the Putra LRT in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and the JFK AirTrain in New York.

1 Brief description
2 Rolling stock
3 Organizational history
4 Lines
5 Design
6 Trivia
7 External links
8 Reference

Brief description

The Expo Line (coloured blue on route maps) opened in late 1985, in conjunction with the Expo 86 World's Fair.
The Millennium Line (coloured yellow on maps) opened on August 31, 2002.

The two lines follow a common route between Waterfront Station in downtown Vancouver and Columbia Station in New Westminster, serving the cities of Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster en route. From Columbia, Expo Line trains continue through Surrey to King George Station, while Millennium Line trains loop back through New Westminster, Burnaby and Vancouver to Commercial Drive Station, adjacent to Broadway Station on the common Expo/Millennium Line. Although most of the system is elevated (hence its name), SkyTrain runs at or below grade through Downtown Vancouver, and short stretches in Burnaby and New Westminster.

SkyTrain's fare system is organized on the honor system, meaning there are no turnstiles at the entrances to train platforms. Fares are instead enforced by random sweeps through trains by TransLink personnel. It is possible to ride long distances without paying until one eventually gets caught. TransLink is believed to lose over $6 million in revenue annually because of fare evasion. There has been talk for a number of years about installing turnstiles, although this has so far come to nothing. TransLink will normally post personnel to collect and check fares at station entrances when a large volume of passengers can be expected, for example at the Stadium-Chinatown Station following a British Columbia Lions or Vancouver Canucks home game.

Security is enforced by TransLink’s Special Provincial Constables. New laws will bring these constables into the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority Police Service. Officers will have the full powers of provincial police, including the ability to arrest people for outstanding warrants, enforce drug laws, and the ability to enforce the criminal code outside TransLink property. The new police force will issue violation tickets for fare evasion and other infractions on SkyTrain, buses, SeaBus and West Coast Express.

Rolling stock

Image:VancouverSkyTrainCar.jpg

Originally, the Expo Line used 12-metre (40-foot) lightweight 'MK I' ('Mark I') ICTS cars similar to the ones used in Toronto's Scarborough RT and Detroit's People Mover. For the Millennium Line, articulated pairs of new 18-metre (60-foot) 'MK II' ('Mark II') cars were built by Bombardier, similar to the cars used in Kuala Lumpur's Putra LRT. Each pair of cars (either two old cars or one articulated set of two new cars) is permanently joined together in a two-car trainset, or 'married pair'. There is also a middle 'c' car for the MK II trains, but they are rarely used, if at all.

Both old and new cars run on both lines. Two MK I trainsets are almost always joined together to form a four-car train, but old trainsets are never coupled with new trainsets. 1 set of articulated MK II's occasionally run during periods of low passenger volume (late at night, for example), while six-car MK I and two joined MK II trains are possible at times of peak capacity (for example, when many people are going home from a special event in downtown Vancouver) and during track maintenance, when frequencies are reduced. However, MK I trainsets are always found in sets of 2, and only seen in a set of 1 during track testing or other non-revenue services.

Currently the MK I cars are being used primarily during peak hours.

Organizational history

Until 1999, the British Columbia Rapid Transit Company owned and operated SkyTrain on behalf of the Vancouver Regional Transit System, which had overall responsibility for public transportation in the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) in affiliation with a separate organization, BC Transit. In 1999, the GVRD's new transportation agency TransLink took over SkyTrain. It is now owned and operated by British Columbia Rapid Transit Company Ltd. which is a subsidiary of Translink.

Lines

Image:VancouverSkyTrainMap.jpg

The SkyTrain system currently consists of two lines, an extension to one line under construction, and a third line and another extension approved. 33 stations exist on the two lines currently in operation. The current length is 49.6 km.

When not in use, the trains are stored at the Edmonds Yard and Control Centre, which is located between Edmonds and 22nd Street stations (Southridge and Griffths Drives) in Burnaby.

Expo Line

The Expo Line connects Waterfront Station in Vancouver to King George Station in Surrey. It was originally built in 1985 (in time for the 1986 World's Fair) and was named the "Expo Line" once the Millennium Line was built. This line consists of 20 stations. When the line was first built, it only ran as far as New Westminister station before the Expo. During the Expo and afterwards it was extended, first to Columbia Station, then across the Fraser River to Scott Road once the Skybridge was finished, then the final mid-1990's extension to King George Station in Central Surrey.

Millennium Line

The Millennium Line follows the Expo Line from Waterfront Station to Columbia Station in New Westminster, then continues along its own route to Commercial Drive Station in Vancouver. An extension of the Millennium Line from Commercial Drive Station to Vancouver Community College (VCC Station) is already under construction and is due to open in 2005. Once the VCC Station is built, the Millennium Line will consist of 13 stations it does not share with the Expo Line. An extension west toward UBC had been planned before priority was given to the north-south link.

TransLink at one point considered extending the Millennium Line into Coquitlam, but now plan to build instead a street-level light railway for that route (see the Coquitlam Line below).

Richmond-Airport-Vancouver Line

The Richmond-Airport-Vancouver Line ("RAV Line") is scheduled to be completed in 2009, in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The line will run from Waterfront Station through a tunnel under Downtown and much of the city of Vancouver, then surface and cross the Fraser River, continuing to Richmond City Centre. A branch will serve Vancouver International Airport at a special surcharge.

Coquitlam Line

The Coquitlam Line is scheduled to be completed in 2009, in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics. The line will connect Lougheed Town Centre Station on the Millennium Line in Burnaby to the Coquitlam City Centre area, and will use street-level light rail vehicles, rather than conventional SkyTrain technology.

From Lougheed Station (Lougheed Town Centre Station on the Millennium Line), vehicles are proposed to stop at Burquitlam Station on Clarke Road in Coquitlam; Kyle-Queens, Port Moody, and Ioco-Moray Stations along St John's Street in Port Moody; Falcon Station on Barnet Highway in Coquitlam; WCE [West Coast Express] at the West Coast Express's Coquitlam Central Station; and Lincoln, Coquitlam, and Douglas Stations along Pinetree Way in Coquitlam. Cameron Station—on North Road between Lougheed and Burquitlam—is a potential future station not due to open in 2009.

History

When the Millennium line was first built, junction tracks were built at Lougheed Town Centre station to allow for a proposed extension to Coquitlam City Centre. Had this extension been built, the Millennium line would likely have stopped sharing the Waterfront-Columbia section of the Expo line, and either the section between Columbia and Lougheed Town Centre would have become a branch of one of the two lines, or the extension could have become part of the Expo line, with the Millennium line terminating at Lougheed Town Centre.

In 2004, Translink decided to serve Coquitlam with a light rail line using conventional trams, instead of extending the elevated SkyTrain system. Most of the new line will be built at street level, with one tunnelled section. [1] It is hoped that contracts will be awarded in the autumn of 2006, allowing construction to begin in 2007. For more information, see TransLink's page on the line. In mid 2005, TransLink was inviting the public to suggest names for the new line.

Design

On May 11, 2002, Busby + Associates Architects, designers of the Brentwood SkyTrain station in Burnaby, were honoured for their work with a Governor General's Medal in Architecture.

Trivia

The SkyTrain uses the world's longest bridge used only by transit services: the SkyBridge crosses the Fraser River between New Westminster and Surrey. It is a 616 m long cable-stayed bridge, with towers 123 m tall. SkyTrain was also one of the first fully-automated rapid-transit systems in the world. SkyTrain is the longest automated transit system in the world.