Canada Line | Completed

[deasine]

At that rate, it would've been easier to walk to Aberdeen and take it from there -___-"

[NetMapel]

Originally Posted by deasine

At that rate, it would've been easier to walk to Aberdeen and take it from there -___-"

Me and my friend walked from Richmond - Roundhouse to Bridgeport to take the train back downtown because Aberdeen/Landsdowne both have disgustingly long lineup :haha

[BCPhil]

I drove in from the Rock and parked at the new park and ride at Bridgeport. Got there around 2:30 and the parkade was mostly empty. Cars on the way in were stopping and waiting for people to pull out on the first floor, the other 6 floors were almost empty. I went all the way up to the top and parked in spot 1512, the highest numbered spot I could find just to be awesome.

From up there you can get a pretty good view of the platforms at Bridgeport. Oddly, south bound back into Richmond or YVR was PACKED! No one was standing on the north bound platform. But the people at the station weren't letting people up to use the North Bound and the line was very long. After getting onto the ground level and standing around not moving for 15 minutes I figured I would try my luck elsewhere.

Drove out to the airport and Templeton was empty but figured I would drive to YVR to see the line; it went down the walkway out the doors and down the departures level. It was probably 3 times longer than the line I left at Bridgeport.

So I figured the best place to try was probably Marine. That way if I actually got on, but couldn't get back on I could take the 15 from Downtown or take the 100 from the Airport. It was brilliant.

When I arrived there the line for going south was about 100 times longer than the line to go North. Literally, there were about 100 people in the YVR line and 1 in the Downtown line. I figured fate was giving me directions so I got in the Northbound line.

About 5 minutes later I was on a train. "See ya suckers!" I yelled at the people standing on the Southbound platform as I rode on the top of the train and waved my cowboy hat in the air. Okay, I didn't do that, but I should have.

I was standing at the end of the train, which had seats taken but hardly any standees. I think everyone from Brighouse was going to YVR and everyone from YVR was trying to go to Brighouse. I guess downtown's not that interesting?

After getting in the tunnel the train picked up speed, but after a short while, it was sort of boring, and dark.

The ride was smooth, maybe too smooth. Little kids were walking around, not holding anything and not falling over. I was very disappointed, that's not how the Skytrain I know is supposed to work. Able bodied men stayed in their seats as elderly ladies stood, as there was not really any point in giving them a seat. The trains felt a bit slow pulling into and out of most stations. And going around corners, like the one near QE Park, felt like someone had gotten out and had to push.

But I must say the stations are nice. I didn't get out along the way, but each of them looked really good. Very unique looking in the world of underground stations. While they are short, the way they are laid out with the mezzanines makes them feel large.

At Olympic Station the train stopped. A train somewhere ahead of us broke down. So we had to wait almost 10 minutes.

I got off the train at Waterfront and walked past the huge line up and over onto Granville. I walked around downtown. I wanted to go to a movie, but it took so long to get downtown I missed them. So I walked over to Yaletown station. The line there must have just been let down into the station as there was only about 40 people outside. Soon enough I was inside the station, in a second line. Then after that there was a third line, and after than finally down onto the platform.

Everyone on the platform got on the train with room to spare, and not very many people got on after that. Either they were trying to keep the load down on the trains, or the people at each station had no idea how many people were on the trains.

As the train exited the tunnel into daylight, people cheered and were shocked by the sun. It was pure elation by the people as we rose above ground.

The train got busy at Bridgeport and went on to YVR. It was late and I wanted to head home, so I, and about 3/4 of the train stayed on at YVR and headed back. I got off at Marine, ended my day and drove home.

Over all I enjoyed the Canada Line... but I probably caught swine flu.

[mattropolis]

Mattropolis, to post Picasa photos, you need to add "s800/" or "s640/" in front of every image, for instance:
not
P1010506.JPG
but
s800/P1010506.JPG

Hmmm. My pictures do have s800/ in front of them. Can anybody see them? I guess I should go back to using Imageshack.

[mr.x]

^ you people are responsible for the massive YVR line-up! The trains were full, nobody got off when the train arrived.

It was an absolutely disgusting experience for me. It started off alright, but then it went into the shitter.

[deasine]

Originally Posted by mattropolis

Hmmm. My pictures do have s800/ in front of them. Can anybody see them? I guess I should go back to using Imageshack.

That's because I added it for you.

[lightrail]

Originally Posted by Yume-sama

So... if *only* 80,000 people were on the train today... how on Earth do they expect to handle the 100,000 that is "expected by 2010" and 142,000 by "2021"

Don't take this out of context. The trains were running for 8 hours and averaged 10,000 people per hour (most arriving in the same few hours and then waiting) - that is currently the limit for the system per direction. Given that passenger traffic is spread out through a 21 hour day normally, 100,000 people can be carried easily on the system as built.

Look at Expo and Millenium lines when the fireworks end - same thing, people lined up and having to wait to get on the trains.

[mr.x]

images from buzzer:

[nname]

Originally Posted by mr.x

At 6 pm, for some reason they decided to lower the frequency of the trains. There was a train at YVR every 15-minutes despite 1,000 people still waiting in line! It was bull.

I knew today would be a disaster, but this is beyond my imagination.

I was there at about 6:45pm, and I think only every third or fourth train is going to YVR while the others get redirected to Richmond... I think it was done so because Richmond segment is far busier than YVR (I was told each station there have 1.5 to 2 hours of wait at that time, so I decided not to go). At that time, Bridgeport is as full as that Broadway pic posted in this forum a while ago

[nname]

Originally Posted by Yume-sama

So... if *only* 80,000 people were on the train today... how on Earth do they expect to handle the 100,000 that is "expected by 2010" and 142,000 by "2021"

Most people don't ride end-to-end when its in actual service... Especially those who take the train from Waterfront to the airport, and ride back to waterfront on the same train.. I think that would count as 1 passenger.

[Yume-sama]

Global News BC is so much more confrontational and feisty than Global Calgary.

Hounding Campbell about HST on the train, and in regards to the Canada Line "If the goal was mile long line-ups and total chaos, it was a complete success"

[mattropolis]

Thanks for the comments on my map officedweller.

Looks good.
I like how the future stations are marked as dots.
Note though that there is no future station at Nanaaimo on the M-Line. It was completely removed during the public consultation stage as Nanaimo Station on the Expo Line was considered close enough to the area.

I guess my map post is buried in the Canada line opening hoopla now, but I'll erase that dot for Grandview station when I update the map. Thanks

[deasine]

• Video Link

[Alex Mackinnon]

Did any of you guys notice the big group of 50s Ford Thunderbirds on the roof of the riverrock park and ride? Me and a few friends rode the entire line between 5 and 7. Not bad I must say.

[SpongeG]

i heard on the radio or on the news at 5 pm that no one was getting off the train at YVR they just stayed on the train and they were putting out a media warning on Vancovuer radio stations telling people heading dowen that they must exit the train at YVR and reline up

sounds like the media warning didn't work at all

I passed broadway around 8 pm and it was pretty busy long lines

[CLC]

CBC British Columbia: Canada Line opening draws long lineups

The Canada Line's opening day – with a one-time offer of free rides for the public between downtown Vancouver and the airport – proved to be so popular Monday that at one point lineups to get on the new rapid transit trains were more than two hours long.

Fare-free day drew 30,000 passengers during the first three hours, TransLink spokesman Drew Snider said in a news release.

In order to move the lineups faster, Canada Line officials were encouraging customers to get off at the terminal stations Waterfront, YVR and Brighouse and return to the lineup before getting on again to allow more people to get on each train as it came in, Snider said.

Officials had estimated 50,000 would try out the new system in the eight hours it was to be open the first day. Official tallies of how many people did climb aboard have not been released yet.

Despite the long waits, many passengers told CBC News they liked the line's speed, its smooth ride and the cars that are larger than those offered on the Lower Mainland's SkyTrain rapid transit system.

System criticized as 'too small'

But at least one observer said the system is too small to handle demand.

"We paid a Rolls-Royce price for a Volkswagen system," said Stephen Rees, a transportation critic and a B.C. Green Party candidate in the spring provincial election.

"The problem with this system is it can't be expanded easily. The stations are short, there's long sections of single track, and both of those limit the amount of additional capacity you could add in the future," Rees told CBC News Monday.

Premier Gordon Campbell and federal Minister of International Trade Stockwell Day took part in a ceremony at the airport and were among the Canada Line's first riders.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson joined them at the Broadway-City Hall station, and VANOC CEO John Furlong got on the line at the Olympic Village station.

Bikes were not allowed on the train Monday, but will be permitted at all times starting Tuesday when the first train leaves the waterfront station at 4:50 a.m. PT, followed by another every four to six minutes.

The line provides alternating service between Vancouver and Richmond or the Vancouver International Airport in about 25 minutes – making it Canada's only rapid transit link to an airport from a city core.

A single fare for the 19-kilometre route is $3.75. A $2.50 airport surcharge is to be added to the fare sometime in 2010.

[mr.x]

Unfortunately, he's right.

[CLC]

The final tally of today's madness: 85,000

source: Jhenifer@Buzzerblog

PS: the preliminary trip count from our automatic passenger counters is 85,000. Not necessarily 85,000 people though: that is just how many entrances there were on the trains.

[satishreddy]

Thanks for all the pictures folks. I am extremely excited to try things in the next few days.

Regarding system capacity, we will see in the next few weeks, particularly after the bus connections are put in place on Labour Day, how things work out. Based on what I have read, trains will operate at 4 minute intervals between Bridgeport and Waterfront during peak times, alternating going to Richmond and the airport. People with technical knowledge of the system, can this interval be reduced to 2 minute intervals, if there are enough trains? If yes, can't capacity be doubled by doubling the number of trains?

[Denscity]

Negative ambulance chasing Global BC news final. They didn't show the Canada Line opening till 12 minutes into the broadcast. CTV news only took 6 minutes.