Metro Vancouver Transit Discussion II - Page 83

officedweller · #**1641** Posted **Aug 7, 2025, 1:35 AM**

Since Mark V testing was a topic of discussion, I thought that people may be interested in this post I came across - single car BaRT testing in San Fransisco.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DM8IISYJcXd/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Mac Write · #**1642** Posted **Aug 7, 2025, 3:41 AM**

I was on 605-606, and was told tomorrow, there would be a second Mark V train added. If they continue the 1 train entering service each month, the rollout by end of each calendar ear should look like this

2025 - 6 Trains
2026 - 18 Trains
2027 - 30 Trains
2028 - 42 Trains
2029 - 47 Trains

Based on this in theory numbers, once we have 8-12 trains in service it should be easy to get a Mark V based on the 12 Mark II 1300-1400 series in service.

Vantage · #**1643** Posted **Aug 7, 2025, 6:23 AM**

Lucked out and was able to hop on 605-606 on Monday afternoon at Lougheed without having to wait at all.

cganuelas1995 · #**1644** Posted **Aug 7, 2025, 11:51 AM**

I hoped on 444 yesterday after school.

jollyburger · #**1645** Posted **Aug 8, 2025, 2:59 AM**

Planning for Millennium power rail replacement

https://portal.us.bn.cloud.ariba.com/discovery/public/rfx/23324942/preview

giallo · #**1646** Posted **Aug 13, 2025, 10:23 PM**

Popular transit Youtuber circumnavigates Vancouver Harbour using transit.

• Video Link

officedweller · #**1647** Posted **Aug 14, 2025, 11:40 PM**

Mark V's are sitting a bit high at some stations, making for difficult wheelchair entry.

'Mind The Gap' at some SkyTrain stations with the new Mark V trains
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/skytrain-mark-v-trains-mind-the-gap-platforms

Sheba · #**1648** Posted **Aug 15, 2025, 1:35 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by officedweller

Mark V's are sitting a bit high at some stations, making for difficult wheelchair entry.

'Mind The Gap' at some SkyTrain stations with the new Mark V trains
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/skytrain-mark-v-trains-mind-the-gap-platforms

Burrard only (well at the moment anyway).

I'm pretty impressed that he haven't had more of an issue with gaps. I had a friend in a wheelchair briefly and the problem we had was the smaller front wheels would get caught in the horizontal gap on some trains. It wasn't a big deal if I was there as we'd just back into the train - but when he was on his own he had to get other people to give him a hand with it or he'd risk getting stuck in the doorway (and the doors wouldn't be able to close).

jollyburger · #**1649** Posted **Aug 15, 2025, 3:08 AM**

Second Mark V is in service now as well from Reddit reports.

Mac Write · #**1650** Posted **Aug 15, 2025, 3:41 AM**

I need to do a video on the accessibility of Skytrain which I believed was level boarding until I got a power wheelchair 2 years ago (was walking before). This gap is very unsafe as I have to drive very fast to get over the gap which puts me and others in extreme danger. I have no clue how it didn't make the light of day when the system opened. as it is clearly not level boarding by the disability community.

aberdeen5698 · #**1651** Posted **Aug 15, 2025, 11:59 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mac Write

I need to do a video on the accessibility of Skytrain which I believed was level boarding until I got a power wheelchair 2 years ago (was walking before). This gap is very unsafe as I have to drive very fast to get over the gap which puts me and others in extreme danger.

I just returned from Barcelona and found that there are many stations where there's a 2-3 inch height difference between the floor of the carriages and the platform. They've installed ramps for the first and last cars of the train, but you have to be very careful because there's at least one station (Zona Universitària) which is lacking the ramp at one end of the station - which means there's a potential of boarding a car with a ramp at one of the stations and not having it there when you try to alight at another. We discovered this when we took the Metro to the airport with our roller suitcases.

Spr0ckets · #**1652** Posted **Aug 15, 2025, 5:52 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mac Write

I need to do a video on the accessibility of Skytrain which I believed was level boarding until I got a power wheelchair 2 years ago (was walking before). This gap is very unsafe as I have to drive very fast to get over the gap which puts me and others in extreme danger. I have no clue how it didn't make the light of day when the system opened. as it is clearly not level boarding by the disability community.

Probably because, as is now clear, during the testing period they underwent (and are still undergoing for the other Mark V train they have that hasn't entered service yet) they don't have among their staff any wheel-chair using individual that would have flagged this.

Yet, wheelchair users do constitute a not insignificant or ignorable segment of skytrain riders, which begs the question as to why not even have someone just test different wheelchair systems to see if they can get on and off without problems.

It's not an uncommon occurrence when it comes to designing and testing transit and public usage systems.

It's kinda like how tools and everyday usage items are often designed with right-handed users in mind (because that's 90% of the population of humans) often forgetting the left-handed people and resulting in some of those things being pretty much unusable for them.
And all because the people designing them didn't have a left-handed person in their team or to test it when it was done.

aberdeen5698 · #**1653** Posted **Aug 15, 2025, 6:49 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spr0ckets

...why not even have someone just test different wheelchair systems to see if they can get on and off without problems.

I gotta imagine they do this when they evaluate low floor buses. I agree that it should be done for Skytrain as well. The issue may be that by the time they receive the trains and can test them on the platforms here it's too late to make the kinds of changes they'd need to solve the problem...?

Or maybe they really are aware of the issue and have been making platform modifications to address it, but they felt that it was more important to get the trains into service as soon as possible rather than delay them until the Burrard platform could be fixed. One could argue I suppose that the improved service benefits more users than the platform issue hinders. Your point of view on that balance is doubtless swayed by which group you're in.

jollyburger · #**1654** Posted **Aug 15, 2025, 7:33 PM**

Global story about it with some video demonstrating the issue.

https://globalnews.ca/news/11330227/translink-mark-v-wheelchair-accessibility/

NewfBC · #**1655** Posted **Aug 15, 2025, 9:19 PM**

Same issue in 2019 with Mark III

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/translink-skytrain-mind-the-gap

Ron.

Spr0ckets · #**1656** Posted **Aug 15, 2025, 9:20 PM**

Yeah, it's a tricky situation.

The obvious fix here might be to address the platform at the station where the problem is most pronounced and from the looks of it it seems to be the Burrard station.

But then if you do that (like say,...replacing the warning strip with a "wedge" strip that slopes up to the train), aren't you just creating a problem in reverse for the other current generations of trains that don't have the problem and effectively creating a tripping harzard?

The bigger obvious fix would be to inform the assembly plant in Quebec of the problem and have them fix the train floorboard heigh to match the station heights and also make sure any gap between the door and platform is tolerable, but doing so could potentially cause a delay in the delivery of the remaining train cars.

WarrenC12 · #**1657** Posted **Aug 15, 2025, 9:42 PM**

With all the testing that goes on this is kind of silly to be having this problem now. It should absolutely be a supplier problem to address.

Mac Write · #**1658** Posted **Aug 15, 2025, 11:07 PM**

At the Launch even I showed them this and they took my e-mail address and I never heard from them. I have been planning my video idea since Mid June.

madog222 · #**1659** Posted **Aug 15, 2025, 11:13 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mac Write

At the Launch even I showed them this and they took my e-mail address and I never heard from them. I have been planning my video idea since Mid June.

Just to be clear, there is a noticeable difference between these Mark V and the Mark II/III?

Mac Write · #**1660** Posted **Aug 16, 2025, 7:09 AM**

All trains have the height gap 2inches. I always thought it was horizontal gap between platform and train, but it's a vertical gap. for every 1inch a 1ft ramp is required by ADA. I get on at Gilmore and the gap on the Mark II originals is a big drop when dis-embarking. I am also left handed, legally blind/visually impaired, autistic, and also have Cerebral palsy, along with a few other things. This is why I am building a business around this stuff. Being disabled is a living hell. and I am not religious.