Canada Line | Completed - Page 412

deasine · #**8221** Posted **Aug 19, 2009, 6:56 AM**

Yaletown-Roundhouse
Quite a cool station and deeper than I thought it would be - quite a long walk down from street level.

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Photography by Deasine - Hosted on Picasa Web Albums - Creative Commons Protected

What's with the single arrow pointing only one way in the wrong angle.

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Future space for future down-escalator

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Notice in this and second photo:

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Why is the elevator sign on the left sign and not the right... weird.

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bils · #**8222** Posted **Aug 19, 2009, 6:57 AM**

i drove by the richmond centre station this afternoon. it seemed to be bustling with pedestrians which is great to see. however i still find it a damn shame that there isn't a direct connection between the station and the mall. nothing but a lousy crosswalk exists across an overcrowded no.3 road.

mr.x · #**8223** Posted **Aug 19, 2009, 6:58 AM**

X'S REVIEW

I've watched this project for 7 years, there's an immense gratification of watching it go online.

Although I have harshly criticized the project over the last few years, it's only because I obviously want a better system for all of us. What's done is done, lets look forward now and try to learn from our mistakes.

I was struck by awe, it was more than what I imagined it to be. Beyond my expectations.

I started my trip at Broadway at around 5 pm, I noticed that they put the yellow "fare required" sticker along the floor as the signs above weren't noticeable enough.

I was checked for a fare, from one of those green coats, for the first time in years!

The scale of Broadway-City Hall is impressive, in terms of its airyness. It was truly impressive, but noisy. To be picky, there are some ugly pipes above the inbound platform. I wish they could have done something more with the roof above the tracks.

An outbound train heading to Brighouse was the first to arrive, the station voice announcements are amazing! Loud and clear....i noticed that there are sets of speakers along every 3-metres of the platform, which explains why the sound is so crisp (for an underground transit station). The outbound train was packed, almost full.

My inbound train arrives a few minutes later, with the speakers blasting the announcements. The stations are also quite noisy, I'm assuming its from the fans behind the wall. The train arrival brings a gust of wind into the platform.

The train is about half full, I was quite surprised at how relatively smooth and quiet the ride was. But there were sections where it was quite slow, namely between Broadway and Olympic Village. Not to mention, compared to the trains we're used to

The train arrived at Yaletown, and i was suprirsed at how many people there were on the platform. At least two dozen people even. I actually think it's possible they may have underestimated the ridership for this station, besides being used for events at the nearby stadiums.

The train continued on to City Centre, and then of course Waterfront. I got off at Waterfront, obviously impressed. The corridor to CPR building was nice, but i gotta wonder how long before all of that is stained with the trains pushing in dirt into the station. A year? Will the operator be cleaning it?

Speaking of maintenance, customer service on the system is amazing (a word i will be using consistently in this post!)....Translink could definitely learn something here.

On my way back down to the Waterfront platform, staff were on the public announcement system telling people at Waterfront to let passengers off the train first before boarding. Hopefully, they will include something along the lines of "Please let passengers exit the train first before boarding" immediately following the train arrival announcements.

By the time the train arrived, there were at least 150 people waiting to get onto the train. This was the train to Brighouse, i was lucky to get a seat.

The train was quite slow when it got to the bends at Queen Elizabeth Park, a lot of squeeling.

There were only two people waiting for the platforms at Langara and Marine.

Unfortunately, no "ahhhs" when the train got out of the tunnel....but it was really an impressive sight after being deprived of views and light for nearly 15 minutes. :p

The views from the North Arm were impressive, a large plane swoop over us as we went by. You'd wish the windows were larger, but maybe it was for the better that it was smaller. The train walls are noticeably much wider than the SkyTrain cars, and it definitely helps to lower the amount of noise inside the train....so smaller windows would of course buffer the sound even more. There was only one train parked at the OMC.

I'd wager there were about about 150-200 people on the train when it got to Brighouse. It was busy. I waited for the train to reverse for about 4 minutes at Brighouse....the end track seemed a bit short lol.

I got off at Bridgeport to transfer onto YVR. It's far too small, being the interchange location for so many buses. It's going to be a packed station, there isn't much room to move around. Bridgeport and Broadway should really have been built with 50-metre platforms right from the start. The station aesthetics right on the platform reminded me of Lougheed when you looked up, the metal texture was similar. But of course, from the outside and afar it didn't look impressive.

It was at Bridgeport where I heard a old Chinese woman complaining how the stations weren't big enough. "Di zam mei ho dai ah, ho xie ah!"

The track turn right after Bridgeport, to YVR, was quite slow (and even slower on the way back on the same section).

I don't have much to comment on the YVR stations, definitely some of the nicest elevated stations along the line. Nobody was waiting at Templeton of course, but i did notice that glass had been shattered on one end of the platform.

On the way back into Vancouver, I sat at the front of the train....had a good view of the front window. I noticed they hadn't resolved the water leakage problem in the Cambie tunnel, i noticed a small stream of running water down the tracks and it ended just before Broadway.

I got off at Yaletown and did a little exploring, the station was busy! There were about a dozen people lining up to use 2 ticket vending machines! I did a short walk around Yaletown, got back a few minute later and I showed staff my U-Pass without them asking. These people are extremely friendly btw. Gotta also mention that I noticed cleaners at stations with sweeps, which is virtually non-existant when SkyTrain is running.

I boarded the train home, but before that I did one more stop at Olympic Village. I had the impression before that this station was rushed in time for the opening, so they went along with the simple tile design for the concourse....but if you look beyond that, the tiles keep going along the wall down the staircase/escalator in a staircase pattern. It was also a really airy station and the glass walls for the mezzaine were nice. It was a station that really surprised me, i was impressed.

I got off at Broadway, where I started my trip, and took the 99 B-Line home.

What more can I say? Like my blue t-shirt said on yesterday, "I <3 CANADA LINE".

deasine · #**8224** Posted **Aug 19, 2009, 6:58 AM**

Yaletown-Roundhouse continued

Photography by Deasine - Hosted on Picasa Web Albums - Creative Commons Protected

Photography by Deasine - Hosted on Picasa Web Albums - Creative Commons Protected

Again, YVR-Airport not YVR Airport.

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NetMapel · #**8225** Posted **Aug 19, 2009, 6:59 AM**

I wonder if somebody should inform Google that we have a new subway line that needs to be included in their map service ? I still don't see the stations up displayed on Google Map.

mezzanine · #**8226** Posted **Aug 19, 2009, 7:01 AM**

Rode the line yesterday when it was free. Some observations:

-lined up at Vancentre. ~ 1 hr wait, by that point it was at the sears entrance by granville and robson. I got grumpy, but in comparison, the wait was ok compared to later on. The entainment was minimal, an older woman singing jazz with an even older woman accompanying on a keyboard at the tom lee tent. The cop at the entrance was asking for canada line passports to enter, otherwise, you had to join the line. This wasn't true at other stations, but provided an easy way for crowd control. (and riders today and onwards don't get one, b*tches!!

-we headed for the airport, luckily, it was the next immediate train. we sat on a backward-facing seat by the rear window, kinda interesting. the train was able to seat everyone at van centre, but standing room only after yaletown. The undulations of the tunnel we cool to see - this is not like the dunsmuir skytrain tunnel.

-wanted to go straight to YVR, the line-up drained the rest of the interest for other stations.

-one thing that everyone says = the whole train appplauded as we emerged from the tunnel. yeah, i suppose we were all bumpkins, but it was endearing....

-YVR was a total zoo. we disembarked, the whole terminal was swarming with daytrippers. The observation deck was nice, but overllooked a quiet and smallish domestic apron. at least I got 2 popsicles out of the outing

-I thought I could sneak in a back route back to the trains, the attendants were guarding the entrenaces carefully. The line up to go back was massive. We decided to taxi it to templeton.

-Templton, and sea island do seem small, it looks like the platforms are tiny compared to other stations. but, they will be sparsely used to start and easily expandible. templton has a south entrance, but it back onto an empty field currently, and the gate was down.

-i think I saw deasine!!

i remember seeing the alaska flight too, and seeing a dude in a black tee shirt taking some 'perspective' shots of the tracks with an SLR.

-going to templeton was a smart idea, as we easily caught an almost-full train. the dwell time at temp and bridgeport were longish, but in vancouver, we were back at full speed. the accel/decel of the trains were slower than skytrain, but very forgiving if you have heavy suitcases, or you were standing, as i was for the return trip.

-we stayed on until waterfront. the art there was very fitting (B+W shots of c-line construction). a nice ride, but very exhausting. all in all, i liked what i saw. on the weekend, i will try to take my bike on and tour richmond...

deasine · #**8227** Posted **Aug 19, 2009, 7:04 AM**

Olympic Village

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Photography by Deasine - Hosted on Picasa Web Albums - Creative Commons Protected

Another useful sign:

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I was surprised to see this kind of lighting at Olympic Village:

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mr.x · #**8228** Posted **Aug 19, 2009, 7:06 AM**

Pedestrian crossings from Brighouse to the mall really need to be improved, and i'm sure they will be with the road improvement still going on. Same goes with the Broadway/Cambie intersection.

InTransitBC sure did do one big extra with the station voice announcements, it wasn't part of the contract.

mr.x · #**8229** Posted **Aug 19, 2009, 7:09 AM**

Quote:

-YVR was a total zoo. we disembarked, the whole terminal was swarming with daytrippers. The observation deck was nice, but overllooked a quiet and smallish domestic apron. at least I got 2 popsicles out of the outing

I have a friend who works for YVR full-time (i worked at YVR this past week on a temporary basis), he thought it was hillarious how so many people at the airport weren't even taking flights.

Quote:

-I thought I could sneak in a back route back to the trains, the attendants were guarding the entrenaces carefully. The line up to go back was massive. We decided to taxi it to templeton.

Fool. :p

deasine · #**8230** Posted **Aug 19, 2009, 7:09 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mezzanine

-i think I saw deasine!!

i remember seeing the alaska flight too, and seeing a dude in a black tee shirt taking some 'perspective' shots of the tracks with an SLR.

How do you know the black tee shirt wasn't me? Not implying anything by the way...

Quote:

Originally Posted by mezzanine

-going to templeton was a smart idea, as we easily caught an almost-full train. the dwell time at temp and bridgeport were longish, but in vancouver, we were back at full speed. the accel/decel of the trains were slower than skytrain, but very forgiving if you have heavy suitcases, or you were standing, as i was for the return trip.

Precisely. I didn't bother with the lineup so I bused to Templeton St. Could've gotten off Crossover Road and went with Sea Island Centre Stn but I wanted to see the best looking Canada Line Stn =P

Also glad Mr. X seemed to actually enjoy the line. I'm sure the fact that you were tired from work really made you pissed off about the operations.

CLC · #**8231** Posted **Aug 19, 2009, 7:12 AM**

have anyone taken a ride on 98-b since Canada Line opened, I wonder if 98-b ridership has been clearly down?

deasine · #**8232** Posted **Aug 19, 2009, 7:14 AM**

Olympic Village Continued

Photography by Deasine - Hosted on Picasa Web Albums - Creative Commons Protected

mr.x · #**8233** Posted **Aug 19, 2009, 7:14 AM**

Things Translink needs to learn for Expo and Millennium Lines:

Customer Service
- friendly and helpful attendants
- attendants at every station
- attendants checking everyone's fare at the fare required boundaries
- cleaners

Infrastructure
- making onboard train announcements loud and crisp
- install new and more speakers onto stations
- implement automatic station announcements like the Canada Line
- replace the electronic displays with new and bigger displays like the Canada Line's that show the next trains and arrival times

mr.x · #**8234** Posted **Aug 19, 2009, 7:17 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by CLC

have anyone taken a ride on 98-b since Canada Line opened, I wonder if 98-b ridership has been clearly down?

I saw a downtown bound 98 B-Line on the Broadway bus bay with a bus that was far from being full at around 5 pm, i think i only saw one standee.

I'm quite sure ridership on the 98 is significantly down, the only people who are still riding it are those who live along the Granville area.

deasine · #**8235** Posted **Aug 19, 2009, 7:21 AM**

Broadway-City Hall (More...)
Like Mr. X said, the architecture at Broadway-City Hall is amazing. The high ceilings, use of concrete, tile, and glass really help make the station unique. Like Mr. X said, I would've hoped some sort of treatment was used for the ceiling instead of leaving it bare concrete, like laminate wood, which would've been simple to install (before the opening of the line that is), or at least ceiling panels like the ones at Waterfront.

The ramp from the station mezzanine to the street level entrance has only a slight rise. For some reason, I was expecting a steeper one.

Photography by Deasine - Hosted on Picasa Web Albums - Creative Commons Protected

I love how light shines through on both sides.

Photography by Deasine - Hosted on Picasa Web Albums - Creative Commons Protected

Photography by Deasine - Hosted on Picasa Web Albums - Creative Commons Protected

New 99 B-Line stop: notice the destination is for "Commercial - Broadway Stn" instead of the original "Broadway Station or Bway Stn." The new SkyTrain maps also have it. Do I see a station renaming soon? That would be nice and make it very easy to differentiate from Broadway-City Hall and Commercial-Broadway.

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Already, someone is using the Airport Check-In

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CLC · #**8236** Posted **Aug 19, 2009, 7:46 AM**

The Province: 70,000 people to hop the train on its first official day of operation.

Quote:

Paid service started Tuesday morning at 4:50 a.m. from Waterfront Station and by 9:30 a.m., electronic counters showed just 9,000 people had crossed into fare-paid zones where they needed tickets. The number jumped to 33,000 by 2:15 p.m and hit 60,000 just before 6 p.m. — “so we’re anticipating we’ll hit at least 70,000 for the day” said Crombie.

http://www.theprovince.com/Canada+Line+traffic+settles+down/1907381/story.html

mezzanine · #**8237** Posted **Aug 19, 2009, 7:56 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by deasine

How do you know the black tee shirt wasn't me? Not implying anything by the way...
Precisely. I didn't bother with the lineup so I bused to Templeton St. Could've gotten off Crossover Road and went with Sea Island Centre Stn but I wanted to see the best looking Canada Line Stn =P

If that teeshirt dude was you, I was on the eastbound platform, and you were on the westbound-YVR platform, kneeling down to get a low angle shot of the tracks. I would have been the guy bitching loudly about the zoo-ness of YVR.

The alsaka flight and your photo of it was hard to forget, the planes come close to the station and I was looking north. (@ ? ~1600) nice views...

Metro-One · #**8238** Posted **Aug 19, 2009, 7:59 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mezzanine
-i think I saw deasine!! i remember seeing the alaska flight too, and seeing a dude in a black tee shirt taking some 'perspective' shots of the tracks with an SLR.

Haha, that dude was me! Deasine and I rode the line together, but I was the one with the SLR. If you look back i posted 30 pictures as well (same time as Deasine).

My pic

mr.x · #**8239** Posted **Aug 19, 2009, 8:00 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by CLC

The Province: 70,000 people to hop the train on its first official day of operation.

http://www.theprovince.com/Canada+Line+traffic+settles+down/1907381/story.html

Holy crap, 100,000 is a shoe-in.

mrjauk · #**8240** Posted **Aug 19, 2009, 8:05 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr.x

Things Translink needs to learn for Expo and Millennium Lines:

Customer Service
- friendly and helpful attendants
- attendants at every station
- attendants checking everyone's fare at the fare required boundaries
- cleaners

Infrastructure
- making onboard train announcements loud and crisp
- install new and more speakers onto stations
- implement automatic station announcements like the Canada Line
- replace the electronic displays with new and bigger displays like the Canada Line's that show the next trains and arrival times

I agree with most of your points above, except for the bolded ones. Given that most of the Millennium and Expo lines' stations are above ground, loudish announcements could get very annoying for those living nearby. That's not an issue with underground stations.