The escalators at SkyTrain’s Granville Station—the longest in Metro Vancouver—carry 30,000 people per day and have been operating since the Expo Line opened in 1986. That’s more than 30 years!

The time has come for them to be replaced to ensure the escalators are safe and reliable for our customers today and well into the future. That’s why we’re embarking on an ambitious project to replace the six escalators at Granville Station, beginning with the three main escalators on May 26 and continuing for about two years.

The Seymour Street entrance to Granville Station will be closed for the duration of this work in order to ensure the safety of customers and construction crews, and minimize project cost and time. Customers will access the station from the escalators and elevator at the Dunsmuir Street entrance where new fare gates have been installed for the increased passenger volume.

Customers are asked to allow for extra travel time or consider using Burrard or Stadium–Chinatown stations, a five to eight minute walk away. Additional SkyTrain staff will be on site to assist customers.

DID YOU KNOW? ? The escalators at Granville Station are the longest in Metro Vancouver at 115 feet (35 metres) long!

It’s no easy feat as it’s not your typical escalator installation! The confined location of the escalators requires them to be built on-site piece-by-piece.

Escalators typically come prefabricated and can be installed in about six months. However, the length of the escalators at Granville Station (the three main ones are the longest in Metro Vancouver!) and the challenges of bringing large prefabricated pieces into a constrained, underground space means the escalators must be built and assembled on site, and must be adapted to the exiting truss.

The Granville Station Escalator Replacement Project is part of the TransLink Maintenance and Repair Program, our annual investment in repairing, replacing and improving aging infrastructure across the system to keep customers safe, comfortable and moving across a reliable transit network every day.

In total, 37 escalators at 13 SkyTrain stations along the Expo Line and at select West Coast Express stations will be replaced through the Expo Line Escalator Replacement Project, with Granville Station up first. Improvements to the other 12 stations are anticipated to begin rolling out in 2019.

Extensive proactive maintenance is being completed on the three escalators serving the Dunsmuir entrance at Granville Station to reduce the need for unplanned maintenance, and replacement parts have been pre-ordered to allow for faster repairs.

Learn More:

• Media Release – TransLink launches Granville Escalator Replacement Project
• Backgrounder – Granville Station Escalators