TransLink announced Friday that they are speeding up the acquisition of more SkyTrain cars, with an aim to increase capacity on the Expo and Millennium Lines during peak hours.
The three-phase plan has TransLink putting online 28 additional SkyTrain cars in early 2019, with another 28 cars to follow by the end of 2019.
Photo by Dan Toulgoet
Additionally, the Canada Line will have 24 cars brought on by the end of 2020.
The 80 new cars were part of the Mayors’ Council 10-Year Vision, however getting all the Expo and Millennium Line cars on board within 2019 puts the plan three years ahead of schedule.
The total investment for the 80 new cars is $298 million: $210 million for the 56 Expo and Millennium Line cars and $88 million for Canada Line. The purchase of the new cars is funded through the Public Transit Infrastructure Fund (PTIF). PTIF is funded by the Government of Canada at 50 per cent, Province of British Columbia at 33 per cent and TransLink at 17 per cent.
With ridership having grown 12% on the Expo and Millennium lines, and over 6% on the Canada Line in 2017, TransLink says they want to be able to offer more frequent service and higher capacity, particularly in the face of rush hour crowding.
By the time the new Canada Line train cars are put into service in 2020, there will be a total of 8,200 additional spaces per peak hour on both directions on all three SkyTrain Lines.
