Transit service to the HSBC Celebration of Light, Wed July 22
Transit service to the HSBC Celebration of Light, Wed July 22
We’ve scheduled service to help you get to and from the HSBC Celebration of Light fireworks festival on Wed July 22 (Canada), Sat July 25 (South Africa), Wed July 29 (U.K.), and Sat August 1 (China).
SkyTrain will operate at “rush hour” service levels for the evening, with last trains leaving Waterfront Station for King George at 1:15am, VCC-Clark at 12:31am and Lougheed at 1:11am.
Extra trains will be available in case there are customers still inside stations when the last scheduled trains leave – no one will be left behind!
Also, due to expected crowds, bicycles may be restricted westbound to downtown at the discretion of transit staff when trains are crowded, and will not be permitted on SkyTrain after 10pm on fireworks days until crowds have cleared. If you’re biking, travel early and avoid the inbound peak of 8 pm to 9:30 pm. As you likely know, bikes are limited to two per SkyTrain car, and please be mindful of the safety and comfort of other passengers.
West Coast Express will run a special train on August 1 only (that’s finale night). The train will leave Mission City Station at 7:00 pm and return from Waterfront at Midnight.
SeaBus will have both vessels in operation throughout the evening: 15-minute service will run between Lonsdale Quay and Waterfront station until 12:15am on Wednesdays and 12:45am on Saturdays.
West Vancouver Blue Bus will also provide more buses from Dundarave and Park Royal. Buses returning to West Vancouver will load east of the regular bus stop (nearer to Stanley Park) at Georgia and Denman.
For buses, please note that several bus routes will be re-routed away from the immediate area of the fireworks in the evening, so you’ll need to walk a few blocks to get to your viewing point after:
- #5 Robson will go as far as Denman and Georgia
- #6 Davie will terminate at Davie and Thurlow
- C21 Beach will go as far as Beach and Hornby
- C23 Davie will go as far as Davie and Thurlow
- #22 Knight/Macdonald will use Granville Street Bridge, 4th Ave., Burrard and Cornwall in both directions
Transit supervisors will be on-hand to decide if additional buses are needed. And as always, Transit Police and Transit Security will assist Vancouver Police in crowd management, particularly on transit vehicles. A zero-tolerance policy for drugs, drunkenness and open liquor will be maintained.
The HSBC Celebration of Light remains one of the premier events in the Metro Vancouver calendar, and we are happy to help as many people enjoy it as possible!
Is the best idea to walk from Burrard Station to English Bay? Or are direct shuttles actually being put in place?
Tim:
I’ve asked CMBC, and in fact, roads are closed in the area, so we can’t get in even if we wanted to. Hypothetically, even if we got in, we couldn’t get out. The volume of people would make it very difficult to maneuver buses safely—it’s even difficult for people on bikes. And running buses alongside pedestrian traffic has serious safety concerns.
I’m greatful for Skytrain and look forward to the Canada Line for clearing crowds if the fireworks come back next year. But I’ve seen some Wednesday nights where people are lined up outside the Waterfront station past midnight.
In general the pedestrian congestion clears an hour after on Davie.
Any idea if the number 84 to VCC-Clark will run later than normal (normal being 10 PM on a Wednesday and 9 PM on a Saturday)
I usually take my car to leg and boot, and park it there. Then walk and take the passeger ferry over to the fireworks (the ferry goes to hornby street, right beside burrard st bridge.). If ur taking transit tho, the #50 goes right to leg and boot….lol
Will Day-passes purchased after 6:30 PM still be nine dollars tonight? Or would they become $5.00 (2.50 X 2)
I’m not sure If I want to validate a ticket afterwards, especially it that takes 20 minutes to do, instead of buying a day-pass.
Might be where paying $4.00 more to save 20 minutes comes into play. Hmm, sounds like the Golden Ears Bridge :)
Hi Jheniffer,
You said that there will be extra trains in case the custumers are still inside stations right? does it mean that they are going to use these new trains too?
Please email me back. :)
Elfren: Not sure if new trains are going to be used — but if they’re in regular service I don’t see why they wouldn’t be.
Dave: There won’t be specific additions to routes, however there will be transit supervisors out monitoring the system with the ability to call in extra reserves.
Tim: Daypasses are $9 all day every day. Here’s the pricing page.
Tim: However! On fireworks nights you can buy your return ticket in advance at special fareboxes at Burrard and Granville Stations after 7pm. Exact fare is required, no refunds, and those are valid till the end of that day’s service. We do this for special events like sports games and events, so you can save yourself the time!
Excellent service last night.. I was very impressed in how little time I spent waiting for the Skytrain. Well done!
Glad it worked out Tim :) I’ve passed your comment on to our friends at SkyTrain. They will be very pleased to hear from you!
For those that missed it. Click on my name link to find it on YouTube.
It appears GlobalTV is posting raw footage of the fireworks. Click on my name link to see the show unedited.
Of course, flickr has tons of images to admire the show from different points around English Bay. Click on my name link to see it.
For an occassion like this, the skytrains should be longer. And there could be some extras too.