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TransLink's new 'all-door boarding' set to open Feb. 2

If there’s one thing I hate about taking the SkyTrain (other than watching young, able-bodied people not give up their seats to seniors) it’s the main platform at the Commercial–Broadway station.
Chris Campbell

If there’s one thing I hate about taking the SkyTrain (other than watching young, able-bodied people not give up their seats to seniors) it’s the main platform at the Commercial–Broadway station.

OK, it’s might not Beijing-subway-level crowded, but it’s pretty terrible jamming together with hordes of people, elbows flying as everyone squeezes onto one of the trains. (Pro-tip – wait until riders get off the train before bull-rushing your way into a car.)

This will hopefully be more of a thing of the past as the new “all-door boarding” opens on Feb. 2. According to TransLink’s Buzzer Blog, there will be a “new option for getting on and off Expo Line trains heading westbound towards downtown Vancouver. A new platform at Commercial–Broadway Station will soon be open for customers, bringing all-door boarding to the system for the first time. All-door boarding will help you get where you need to go faster, by reducing crowding on the platform and improving passenger flow at the station.”

all door boarding
TRANSLINK GRAPHIC

TransLink offers the following instructions for the new platform system:

If you’re travelling on the Expo Line heading towards downtown Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­(westbound):

  • Connect to Millennium Line by exiting via doors on right (Platform 5)
  • Connect to 99 B-Line and other buses by exiting via doors on left (Platform 3).

If you’re on the Millennium Line transferring to the Expo Line, you have two options:

  • Take the new overhead walkway to the new platform (Platform 5) to board the Expo Line heading downtown (westbound) only
  • Use the original overhead walkway to access the original platform (Platforms 3 and 4) to access trains heading both east and west.

“Additional staff and customer signage will be out before and after the change takes place to help you.”

“This station is the second-busiest station on the system with 200,000 transit journeys each weekday,” says TransLink.

“You will still be able to board eastbound trains towards Production Way-University and King George at Platform 4. To travel westbound towards Waterfront, you can now board trains at both Platforms 3 and 5.”

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