Woop woop — the first of our new SkyTrain cars will be running on the system tomorrow, and you’re all invited to ride it!

After the morning rush hour on Friday July 3, look out for train #306 and feel free to get on board when it stops at your station.

The train is now in its “endurance running” phase, after successfully completing extensive testing and trial running. Endurance running requires that the train completes 2000 kilometres of regular service while meeting certain criteria (the equivalent of about one week of service). A critical part of this phase involves passengers boarding and disembarking the trains, so go ahead and climb aboard!

You’ll find a SkyTrain attendant on board to talk to passengers about the new train, plus I think I’ll also pop in to see what people think of it. You can also check out the Buzzer blog’s posts about the car’s new interiors, and photos/video of the exteriors.

This new train is one of the 48 new SkyTrain cars expected before the Olympics, boosting our capacity by 30%—hurrah!

And watch out over the next week: you’ll see some other new Mark IIs start their trial runs at the stations.

Part of the trial run plan requires trains to operate on the guideways, stopping at stations and activating the doors—but the trains won’t carry passengers just yet. You’ll see signs on the windows and staff on board to indicate that passengers are not yet permitted on those trains.