Would you believe that the Millennium SkyTrain Line is 10 years old? Well, it’s true! The line officially opened on August 31, 2002, and connected to the bus network on September 3, 2002.

The Millennium Line was a long time coming, a version of it having been in the works since the inception of SkyTrain 26 years ago. Today it’s an integral part of our system. In fact, there are roughly 80 000-85 000 people who board the line everyday (excluding Commercial-Broadway Station)! Here’s a great primer on the building of the 13 stations and over 21 kilometers of track that make up the Millennium Line. In addition, this station tour brochure of the line gives an overview of the each station and each station’s unique features.

The Millennium Line Travel Guide

An early design look of the new Mark II trains

Millennum Line Riders Guide

Along with the Canada Line, the Millennium Line has greatly expanded the system to include more communities within Metro Vancouver. With the Evergreen Line linking to the Lougheed Town Centre Station (Millennium Line) in the future, the Millennium Line is projected to increase further in ridership.

As mentioned in our Managing the Transit Network series, planning new communities around transit is important to ensuring a well used and productive transit system. The Price Tags blog recently covered how rapid transit has driven progress at Brentwood Mall (serviced by Brentwood Town Centre Station on the Millennium Line).

Of course, a birthday of the Millennium Line would be nothing without talking about the Mark II SkyTrain cars. We now run these trains on all of the SkyTrain lines (except Canada Line), but it was the Millennium Line that first used the Mark II cars were originally built for the Millennium Line. The Mark II trains seat 50 more people than the Mark I (130 compared to 80 people per car) have space for bikes and wheelchairs and have a different seating arrangement.

There’s a lot to be said about the Millenium Line and a lot of stories to tell. We’d love for you to share your stories and reflections on the line. Happy birthday Millennium Line!