Surrey Langley Skytrain - Expo Line Extension | Proposed

[mcj]

Originally Posted by Sheba

I'm disappointed there aren't any mini bus loops (along the lines of what's at Burquitlam Station) at a few more stations. I hope that doesn't end up being a problem in the future.

140th Street is too close to King George to justify a dedicated bus loop, as it won't see much service.

152nd Street is on a major bus corridor but doesn't make much sense as a terminus, which is why it's good to see the pedestrian overpass as that makes 152nd Street itself into a major bus stop and will capture the service well there.

Fleetwood Centre is on 160th Street that would really only justify a route to Fraser Heights, and is otherwise covered by the loop nearby at 166th Street.

184th Street would make sense IMO.

Clayton Centre maybe too, but it's likely mostly covered by Willowbrook.

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by BaddieB

I feel like a new Skytrain line from Langley Centre to Carvolth down 200 would make more sense than going further into to Langley (not that we shouldn't two track it though). The Willoughby/Carvolth area is planned to be really dense over a large area, around 90 to 250 people per ha, which is akin to the Broadway area today (just without the jobs). There's even several highrises going up too (Jericho, Latimer Heights). The benefit of building a Skytrain SoF is there are very large stroads which provide a good ROW for Skytrain, as opposed to in the Burrard Peninsula. A 6km skytrain on 200 would be about $1.5B (or cheaper, construction costs have fallen).

Sounds ridiculous now, but Langley will be an unusually dense place in two decades.

You may be surprised to learn that light rail of some sort up 200th Street was proposed back in 2008 by Jordan Bateman (yes, the same Jordan Bateman who was with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, pushed hard for voting no for the transit sales tax, and who's now with the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association) when he was a councillor with the Township of Langley. It made sense then, it makes sense now, and TransLink's going to at least be putting in BRT sometime in the next five years.

[mcj]

Originally Posted by CanSpice

You may be surprised to learn that light rail of some sort up 200th Street was proposed back in 2008 by Jordan Bateman (yes, the same Jordan Bateman who was with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, pushed hard for voting no for the transit sales tax, and who's now with the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association) when he was a councillor with the Township of Langley. It made sense then, it makes sense now, and TransLink's going to at least be putting in BRT sometime in the next five years.

The pattern of anti-tax people pushing wastes of tax dollars like a LRT over a much more sensible solution like BRT is exhausting.

[Tvisforme]

Originally Posted by Jimbo604

....

Apologies if this has been discussed already, but looking at the map I can't help but wonder if it would make more sense to locate the Green Timbers station at 96 Avenue and 138 Street, with the line running south from King George and then east on 96 to reconnect with the Fraser Highway. It's roughly the same distance from KG station (and only 300m longer than the direct route) but would serve Surrey Memorial Hospital. Additionally, it would allow for significantly more development than the currently proposed Green Timbers station, which has extremely limited redevelopment potential to the east due to the adjacent park. Another option is for the station to be located around 92 and 140; that's 500m longer than the direct route but it also has much better redevelopment potential.

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by Jimbo604

I still think TransLink fucked up the names of the Hillcrest and Clayton stations. I grew up in Clayton, I went to East Clayton and Clayton Elementary schools. The station they have labelled as "Hillcrest" should be Clayton, because it's more traditionally where Clayton was (it was kind of centered around 184th and 74th). The station they have labelled as "Clayton" should be Hillcrest, because that's where the old Hillcrest drive-in theatre was.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by CanSpice

I still think TransLink fucked up the names of the Hillcrest and Clayton stations. I grew up in Clayton, I went to East Clayton and Clayton Elementary schools. The station they have labelled as "Hillcrest" should be Clayton, because it's more traditionally where Clayton was (it was kind of centered around 184th and 74th). The station they have labelled as "Clayton" should be Hillcrest, because that's where the old Hillcrest drive-in theatre was.

They probably didn't want to call it West Clayton station.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Par for the course - Olympic Village Station, for example, is nowhere near Olympic Village.

[chowhou]

Let me tell you about Production Way-University!

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

Originally Posted by chowhou

Let me tell you about Production Way-University!

they did propose a direct gondola connection to SFU from that station, in 2008. so only 5ish years after it opened.

we just decided that a relatively cheap, no brainier project was a dumb idea. the name is getting closer to working.

[dreambrother808]

I currently take Skytrain to work in Surrey. I'm sad that I will likely no longer be there when this line opens as the Green Timbers station would take me very close.

That being said, Surrey transit is so overcrowded lately, including both the buses and trains. This is likely due to mass immigration rates and how popular the area is for new arrivals. I sold my car to go back to school and work part-time but I absolutely despise the SOF transit experience. Vancouver is not as bad. It feels like Translink is not adapting to quickly changing usage levels. A 10 pm train to Surrey should not be rush hour level packed.

[scryer]

Originally Posted by dreambrother808

I currently take Skytrain to work in Surrey. I'm sad that I will likely no longer be there when this line opens as the Green Timbers station would take me very close.

That being said, Surrey transit is so overcrowded lately, including both the buses and trains. This is likely due to mass immigration rates and how popular the area is for new arrivals.

Get 'im, forum!

[BaddieB]

I wonder when King George Blvd skytrain discourseis going to start taking off.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by Tvisforme

Apologies if this has been discussed already, but looking at the map I can't help but wonder if it would make more sense to locate the Green Timbers station at 96 Avenue and 138 Street, with the line running south from King George and then east on 96 to reconnect with the Fraser Highway. It's roughly the same distance from KG station (and only 300m longer than the direct route) but would serve Surrey Memorial Hospital. Additionally, it would allow for significantly more development than the currently proposed Green Timbers station, which has extremely limited redevelopment potential to the east due to the adjacent park. Another option is for the station to be located around 92 and 140; that's 500m longer than the direct route but it also has much better redevelopment potential.

I think the better option would be to install a switch east of King George Station for a branch line south behind Surrey Memorial Hospital and diverging over to King George Boulevard then down to Newton.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Again, do we really need to give the Expo a third branch? The two we already have is already inconvenient.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by BaddieB

I feel like a new Skytrain line from Langley Centre to Carvolth down 200 would make more sense than going further into to Langley.

Honestly once RapidBus / BRT is installed on 200th it'll be more than enough for a long time. We can start considering a Skytrain line to replace it a decade later.

Originally Posted by Tvisforme

Apologies if this has been discussed already, but looking at the map I can't help but wonder if it would make more sense to locate the Green Timbers station at 96 Avenue and 138 Street, with the line running south from King George and then east on 96 to reconnect with the Fraser Highway.

Oh yes, diverting the Fraser Hwy Skytrain extension has been discussed many times.

Originally Posted by officedweller

I think the better option would be to install a switch east of King George Station for a branch line south behind Surrey Memorial Hospital and diverging over to King George Boulevard then down to Newton.

Or even better - have it a separate line so we don't have the issue to cascading splits in the Expo Line. Otherwise train frequency on all lines SOF would be terrible.

[GMD]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Again, do we really need to give the Expo a third branch? The two we already have is already inconvenient.

No branch on expo, separate line from Newton to Guildford, that is the only realistic option

[dreambrother808]

Originally Posted by scryer

Get 'im, forum!

For saying that Surrey is popular with new immigrants and Translink isn’t adjusting their service to meet that need? Or calling 1.5 million new immigrants to a country per year mass immigration?

Is stating the obvious a crime now or are you being sarcastic?

[scryer]

Originally Posted by dreambrother808

For saying that Surrey is popular with new immigrants and Translink isn’t adjusting their service to meet that need? Or calling 1.5 million new immigrants to a country per year mass immigration?

Is stating the obvious a crime now or are you being sarcastic?

Stating the obvious has been a crime since 2020.

I was being sarcastic. It won't be me raking you over the coals . I mostly lurk these days anyways.

Originally Posted by GMD

No branch on expo, separate line from Newton to Guildford, that is the only realistic option

In a fantasy post I did a long time ago, this was something that I suggested. To make this work gracefully, I would ideally like to see Surrey Central expand its platforms in the following configuration (essentially just adding another island platform) since it already uses an island platform set up:

| ▯ | | ▯ |

The lines are rails, the rectangles are platforms.

Fundamentally it matters not whether or not your splitting the expo line into a third branch or adding a line since the trains would be using the same tracks and platforms. But certain targeted station or quad tracking upgrades can make an additional line from Newton to Guildford more cohesive with the current system.

I'm also not sure if upgrading Surrey Central station in such a configuration would be realistic in relation to the other infrastructure around. But someone that objectively knows better can certainly expand on this discussion in the fantasy thread .

[BaddieB]

I think it would be best to have the Expo split with one branch going to Newton and one to Langley. I feel like regardless of what happens, the Braid and Sapperton section should just be it's own thing, like a shuttle, because it would have such a markedly lower ridership than any other branch. Definitely more of a priority to have better Expo Line capacity on the SoF end than the eastern New Westminster end.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Dunno about that. With the current system, 2/3 trains go to Surrey and 1/3 to Production Way. Split them evenly between Newton and Langley, that’s a 16% reduction for Langley and potentially 50% for Newton (as opposed to a separate line).

A PW spur has merit, but only to increase capacity to Surrey - it’ll need all the capacity it can get.