Canada Line | Completed

[DKaz]

One minuite faster!!!

Departing From: 5:33a - EASTBOUND N BLUFF RD AT NICHOL RD
On Route: "351 BRIDGEPORT STN"
Travelling To: 6:19a - BRIDGEPORT STN BAY 1

Transfer At: 6:24a - BRIDGEPORT STATION NORTHBOUND
On Route: "SKYTRAIN - platform sign CANADA LINE TO WATERFRONT"
Travelling To: 6:41a - VANCOUVER CITY CTR STN NORTHBOUND

Transfer At: 6:46a - SOUTHBOUND HOWE ST AT ROBSON ST
On Route: "16 ARBUTUS"
Arriving At: 6:49a - SOUTHBOUND HOWE ST AT DRAKE ST

[nname]

Originally Posted by NetMapel

Somebody tell me, why should I be happy about this ? The only good thing from this seems to be the decrease fare costs.

You're comparing an AM trip to a PM trip...

This is what comes out if you set the arrival time to 7AM
351, Canada Line, 016
Trip Start: 5:33a
Trip End: 6:49a
Duration: 1h15 min.

So you save 2 minutes... or more if you can get off the bus and get to the platform faster than 5 minutes. But I'm sure you'll end up in Downtown faster than most of the day, as they almost always overestimate the time after a new schedule change.

[dreambrother808]

Some people seem to be surprised that people are actually using the C-line to go to the airport, luggage and all.

The bus to the airport, which the line replaces, was well-used and so why not a faster, more comfortable train ride?

People were always waiting in line to catch the bus from the airport and waiting at the airport station stop to get there in my experience.

[mrjauk]

Originally Posted by NetMapel

Since I take the #351 traveling all the way from White Rock, I wanted to know how the integration will affect my commute. I was really hyped about Canada Line and attended the opening day for celebration. So I mapped out my future commute with and without the Canada Line using Translink's own trip planner. Suffice to say, I am not particularly happy about the official numbers given by Translink.

Without the Canada Line:


With Canada Line:


Somebody tell me, why should I be happy about this ? The only good thing from this seems to be the decrease fare costs.

I guess you proved that's it's quicker to get to Vancouver from White Rock by bus on a Friday morning than it is to make the same trip in the late afternoon/early evening on the Labour Day holiday. WTF?!? You do know how to compare things validly, don't you?

[NetMapel]

Originally Posted by DKaz

Um, the first itinerary is for 5am on a Friday, the second is for 5pm on a Holiday with just a single zone fare for all zones. Do September 8 instead.

Oh bugger, here's the updated version with Canada Line:

2 minutes faster... :haha think I'll just walk from Yaletown to my destination.

Originally Posted by mrjauk

I guess you proved that's it's quicker to get to Vancouver from White Rock by bus on a Friday morning than it is to make the return trip in the evening on the Labour Day holiday. WTF?!? You do know how to compare things validly, don't you?

Is the trip planner smart enough to take into consideration of the traffic on a friday vs the day after the Labour Day ? I always just thought the trip planner just pulls data from the same paper-back schedule we get on the bus.

[lightrail]

Originally Posted by DKaz

I got off at Yaletown-Roundhouse Station for a bit to see how deep this station really was. I was expecting something deep like Lucien-L'Allier Station in Montreal which required walking up 4 long flights of stairs or something from the ticket mezzanine, 27.6m = about 9 to 10 storeys (and there was no elevator or escalator, and I had luggage with me).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucien-L'Allier_(Montreal_Metro)

Yaletown-Roundhouse Station is 17m deep, but it's only two escalators up from the ticketting mezzanine. I think Granville Station is deeper, is it not?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaletown-Roundhouse_Station

• There's hardly any signage at YVR, but amazing that there were MANY travellers with luggage who were making their ways to the train anyway.
• I didn't notice the slowdown heading south because I was too busy on my iPhone. I did notice the slow down going back north but it doesn't seem as bad as people here are making it out to be.
• The jerkiness is no different from any other heavy rail vehicle based system I've ever been in. It's actually relatively smooth and refined on the Canada Line IMO.
• They could probably shave a minute or two off the travel times. For example the trains could probably approach the stations at higher speeds, I hope they experiment 1km/h at a time.

I still absolutely love the Canada Line.

Yes - Granville is around 26 metres below ground to the lower platform. There are actually three escalators to street level at Yaletown - platform to ticket hall, ticket hall to a mid-level landing, then a short escalator to the street.

Also - Edmonton's University station is also around 26 metres deep. Yaletown is about the same as Grandin Station in Edmonton - 17 metres below the street.

[lightrail]

Originally Posted by NetMapel

Since I take the #351 traveling all the way from White Rock, I wanted to know how the integration will affect my commute. I was really hyped about Canada Line and attended the opening day for celebration. So I mapped out my future commute with and without the Canada Line using Translink's own trip planner. Suffice to say, I am not particularly happy about the official numbers given by Translink.

Without the Canada Line:


With Canada Line:


Somebody tell me, why should I be happy about this ? The only good thing from this seems to be the decrease fare costs.

I'd get off the Canada Line at Yaletown and then get the C21 a block south of there.

[nname]

Originally Posted by lightrail

I'd get off the Canada Line at Yaletown and then get the C21 a block south of there.

C21 and C23 will return to Davie starting September, so its across the street from the station.

[DKaz]

Originally Posted by lightrail

There are actually three escalators to street level at Yaletown - platform to ticket hall, ticket hall to a mid-level landing, then a short escalator to the street.

I mentioned two escalators from the ticketting mezzanine. I probably should've mentioned from the platform to keep it consistent.

If the outbound platform is 26m, going up from the Granville Station inbound platform is about 22-23 metres which isn't too bad.

Yea I remember University Station being deep, but the LRT in Edmonton before the south extension was so useless that I just didn't bother taking it much even though I would stay not too far away on the hostel at Whyte Ave.

[officedweller]

Others beat me to it.

[CLC]

Originally Posted by YYCguys

How long is the train ride from the Airport to Downtown via the new Canada Line?

A few members already answered you.

I also clocked it today. From YVR to Vancouver City Centre station is just 24 mimutes. To the terminus Waterfront is 25 minutes 20 seconds

[DKaz]

YVR to Vancouver City Centre - 24 minutes
YYC to Calgary City Centre - 60 minutes
YEG to Edmonton City Centre - hundreds of minutes.

[CLC]

The faresaver validator of the new Canada Line station (the one I used at Yaletown) failed to accept my faresaver. It keeps displayed either "Invalid " or "Read Error" message (yes there are 2 different error messages). And there is 0 station attendant there.

[CLC]

In my today rides I saw A LOT OF people with luggages, at least 8 went to Richmond-Brighouse, 1 people left at Oakridge, most other obviously went to one of downtown destinations.

Also impressive # of people board/un-board at King Edward, Oakridge, Langara. Since it is 3-minutes frequency, I figured that the # of boardings in each of these 3 stations at least double of Renfrew or Rupert on the M-Line

[Yume-sama]

Originally Posted by DKaz

YVR to Vancouver City Centre - 24 minutes
YYC to Calgary City Centre - 60 minutes
YEG to Edmonton City Centre - hundreds of minutes.

Walking?

Sadly, I didn't even know the bus went to the airport until last month, I wonder who even takes it. I don't know why anyone would at that speed...

[NetMapel]

Oh, and thanks guys for giving me some good suggestions on my commute plan

[officedweller]

Came across the following conference presentation on SkyTrain by a BCRTC staffer (to OC Transpo?) dated June 2009:

SkyTrain: 23 Years of Automated Rail Transit in Vancouver
http://www.ottawa.ca/residents/public_consult/tmp/lrt/vancouver_en.pdf

Other rapid transit presentations at that conference:

http://www.ottawa.ca/residents/public_consult/tmp/lrt/presentations_en.html

[mr.x]

^ that was a really good read.

- The new Mark II's hold 145 passengers per car (up from 130 for the older Mark II models and 80 for the Mark I's...the Mark I car is basically equivalent to the capacity of a bus).

- snow melt heating systems and track switches are heated at 150 degrees!


LMAO, for SkyTrain:

Larger cars… if only we knew
–
current demand has exceeded fleet capacity for several years
•
Bigger stations
–
as above, many stations have exceeded design circulation capacity requiring major capital works

Oh, Canada Line....my, oh, my.





Other interesting bits:

•
More Park and Ride facilities
–
only one official Park and Ride facility on the system plus a few private lots: objective was to encourage bus use and transfers but this was not widely accepted; with rising costs for automobiles, huge potential for increased ridership exists if more facilities were available
•
Centre platform stations only
–
although side-platform stations have smaller footprint, passenger circulation for alternate service is more difficult, significantly more track intrusions occur and overcrowding on narrow platforms is becoming an issue
•
No at-grade or exposed sub-grade alignment
–
major source of vandalism with thrown objects

[DKaz]

Originally Posted by Yume-sama

Walking?

Sadly, I didn't even know the bus went to the airport until last month, I wonder who even takes it. I don't know why anyone would at that speed...

I took it once, wasn't bad. Bus then LRT 202.

[arashi_1987]

Some girls came on the train today and said: omg it looks like a spaceship! LOL

My brother said the train feels like its almost crawling under Cambie Street. It feels the trains are moving too slowly. I felt the same.

My mother said the Templeton Station is so useless. I thought maybe they should just close the station and save on electricity costs and let the trains run right through.

Brighouse Station northbound today around 5pm was very busy. The attendants were checking everyone's tickets but seemed to be having trouble stopping all the people going into the station. It almost feels like the Granville Station escalators!!

The mall with the staples just outside brighouse station had lots of cars moving around the parking lot. Maybe it has become a new drop-off pick-up point.

Lansdowne mall parking lot seemed to have more cars parked there than usual. This was today just after 5pm. The new park and ride?