Today marks yet another great day for transit in Metro Vancouver as TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond, along with members of the federal and provincial government, announced the early arrival of new SkyTrain cars for our system!

The deal was inked on a cold day in 2016, as part of funding provided through Phase 1 of the Mayors’ 10-year Vision. Today, the big news is that 28 additional Expo and Millennium Line SkyTrain cars will arrive by the end of 2019! That’s three years ahead of schedule!

Come 2020, we expect to have 80 new SkyTrain cars available for service – 28 Expo and Millennium Line cars to arrive by early 2019, the 28 additional Expo and Millennium Line cars slated for the end of 2019, and 24 Canada Line cars by the end of 2020!

With an increase in new SkyTrain cars entering service, we’ll be able to increase frequency, reducing pass-ups and wait times for our customers. It means trains will be less crowded, with more free seats and increased comfort for all passengers. We know that comfort and convenience are important.

We expect the additional 80 SkyTrain cars will increase capacity by about 10 per cent for Expo Line, 23 per cent for Millennium Line and 30 per cent for Canada Line. This results in a total of 8,200 additional spaces per peak hour on both directions on all three SkyTrain lines.

Record-breaking numbers of people are turning to transit in Metro Vancouver. In 2017, ridership grew 5.7 per cent over the previous year for an astonishing 407 million boardings! More SkyTrain cars means more people will be able to rely on public transit, helping to reduce road congestion, greenhouse gases and improve efficient movement of people and goods across the region.

Miss this morning’s announcement? Catch the replay at the top of this post!

Author: Sarah Kertcher