SkyTrain's Two Forgotten Future Ghost Stations

[Dave2]

They could have used that bay platform at Stadium a few years ago; i think it was when they were putting the new platform edge yellow stuff into place . They were running trains King George-Stadium, and Stadium-Waterfront. Of course, they had passengers disembarking at Stadium and passengers embarking at the same place, without changing the station dwell time; well of course all hell broke loose. It took ages for passengers to alight, and when it came time for e/b passengers to board, the doors closed creating an even larger crowd to block the next train that arrived.

If I was in charge, I'd have had the incoming passengers disembark at the bay platform, then moved the train to the regular e/b platform.

Of course, anyone who could not climb stairs could remain on the train until it got to the main platform.

[deasine]

Originally Posted by bugsy

Speaking of which, at Stadium-Chinatown Station, there's that empty third track and platform. Kind of like Lougheed Town Centre Station's spur tracks I guess. Can't they start an expansion down Hastings replacing the 135 bus this way?

Why not extend the E/M-Lines from Waterfront back underground...

[officedweller]

Yes, that would be the logical means of doing so.

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by Dave2

Sure, make Gassy Jack station the last station before turning north; heading for Lonsdale.... too bad the Canada Line can't do that... but think of it, North Vancouver only 2-3 minutes from downtown instead of 12 minutes by SeaBus, if this was New York or Boston it would have been done years ago.

No need for a Clark Drive station on the Expo line IMHO; we already have VCC Clark, and that Broadway-Main stretch is one of the nicest stretches of the Expo Line; commuters do not want to stop, they want to *go*, despite what certain advocates of LRT with stops every 500 metres would like us to believe.

but there is no pedestrian access from VCC to the home depot side

they need some kind of pedestrian overpass or a trail - something - my friend worked near that home depot and was frustrated he couldn't get to VCC

[SFUVancouver]

Now this is a ghost station!

The City Hall subway station in New York City was closed off for many decades and basically forgotten. It is open for tours now. I think it is stunning.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

but there is no pedestrian access from VCC to the home depot side

they need some kind of pedestrian overpass or a trail - something - my friend worked near that home depot and was frustrated he couldn't get to VCC

There is a roughed-in (or former?) street there - the one that exits from the Home Depot. Personally I don't see why they can't open it up if railway crossing arms are installed (2 crossings of 2 tracks each) - but I guess no one wants to pay for them. I suppose it also depends whether BNSF parks trains across the roadway ROW. I know that the passengers trains use that siding to turnaround so that they back into the station.

[bugsy]

Originally Posted by officedweller

It's not really the same. The Stadium Station siding was used during Expo 86 for passengers to/from Canada Place without interrupting revenue service on the main platform (the monorail platform was on the other side of the that third platform).
The Lougheed siding has two switches that lead to unbuilt spurs (as well as merging back).
The Stadium Station spur merges back into the line and would also be on the wrong side of the station to branch out to Hastings (even if modified to branch off).

Oh wow, so that's what it was used for.

[officedweller]

Yeah, the Canada Place shuttles were interlined with revenue service. They would exit the third platform eastwards, switch tracks at the switch before the "dip" and reverse direction to head to Canada Place. The Waterfront Station platform had a chain link fence down the middle - one side led to the Howe Street exit which was within Expo fairgrounds and the other side led to the CP Station exit which was for revenue service (this was before the Waterfront Centre was built).

[clooless]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

but there is no pedestrian access from VCC to the home depot side

they need some kind of pedestrian overpass or a trail - something - my friend worked near that home depot and was frustrated he couldn't get to VCC

This is going to sound crazy, but can't you just walk across the tracks to VCC from Home Depot? I am pretty sure I did this a few years ago.

[VanExPat]

There was a trail through the weeds next to the tracks that you could take all the way through. Technically it was trespassing, but lots of people in the neighbourhood used the path. Now it looks like CN/BNSF has shored up the tracks with big concrete blocks to discourage trespassing. Last time I looked from the expo line a thriving crackhead shantytown was developing now that theres no more through traffic.

oh, and whenever CN cops were low on tickets they would camp out and issue trespassing tickets to anyone cutting through.

[CPE]

I think that Boundary Station wouldn't even be near Boundary. The track is sloped over Boundary road, and by the time the track levels out and the track switches are cleared, you are very close to Joyce Station. There is a flat section of track just north of where the guideway crosses Kingsway. I always wondered why they made the guideway so high in that area, followed by a sudden slope towards Joyce. Now I know.

[Jacques]

Originally Posted by clooless

This is going to sound crazy, but can't you just walk across the tracks to VCC from Home Depot? I am pretty sure I did this a few years ago.

Not anymore last summer I had to jump over a huge cement barrier erected on the north side of the train tracks, I think it was stupid not to open a roadway to home depot, but it doesn't matter anymore due that there is one a Cambie opening soon easier access

[Deez]

Originally Posted by SFUVancouver

Now this is a ghost station!

The City Hall subway station in New York City was closed off for many decades and basically forgotten. It is open for tours now. I think it is stunning.

The architecture and narrow-looking gauge had me thinking this was the haunted house ride at Disney World...

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by clooless

This is going to sound crazy, but can't you just walk across the tracks to VCC from Home Depot? I am pretty sure I did this a few years ago.

no its fenced and gated with barbwire

people scale the fence to do so but they do not want people going that way i guess

[clooless]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

no its fenced and gated with barbwire

people scale the fence to do so but they do not want people going that way i guess

I am pretty sure I walked this route a few years ago, but it was night. There were no gates/concrete barriers at that time. Now that they've built fences/barriers it would be nice if the city just built a pedestrian overpass and was done with it. Of course, that costs money.

[officedweller]

The Flats transportation plan shows it as a future road or at least part of the greenway (if Glen Dr. doesn't go all the way to Home Depot)

http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/current...nttomorrow.pdf

Index:
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/current...lats/index.htm

[dreambrother808]

Originally Posted by clooless

I am pretty sure I walked this route a few years ago, but it was night. There were no gates/concrete barriers at that time. Now that they've built fences/barriers it would be nice if the city just built a pedestrian overpass and was done with it. Of course, that costs money.

yeah, i go to the home depot beside gilmore station sometimes, even though i live much closer to the terminal one, just because i don't have to walk so far from transit.

[flight_from_kamakura]

can't believe i missed this thread.

anyway, on woodlands station: this is cool, it would make the point at which the line resurfaces much more attractive and it could really spur redevelopment in that area (though i imagine that with everything else going on, this will take longer).

boundary station, now that's neat, this could be a great zone for new development. thanks for the info on those.

[SpikePhanta]

wow a Boundary Station wouldve probably been used more than patterson station.

[red-paladin]

I sent Translink a letter asking them what are the possible locations for future stations. This is what they told me:

Hi (red-paladin),



Sorry for the delay in responding to your email – I just received it as it was circulated rather widely given the involvement of different staff for the different lines…



Line by line, on the Canada Line:

· Capstan Way station came very close to being constructed but it was contingent on a substantial contribution from the developer of an adjacent property and the economic downtown destroyed the economics of the project so it is not currently proceeding but is likely to come back.

· YVR3 was planned to support an expanded airport terminal - if the Airport Authority proceeds with that expansion, the station would proceed as well. The Airport Authority’s strategic plan may have more detail on it.

· 33rd and 57th Avenue stations would only be built with a large developer contribution, should future land use plans support developments of the necessary scale. 33rd would be a particular challenge given the adjacency to Queen Elizabeth Park.

On the Expo Line, the geometry allowed for future stations at:

· Clark Drive

· Kingsway (E of Boundary Rd)



These could still be built if desired.



The section along Stewardson Way has excessive gradients (1.4% and greater, when SkyTrain stations need to be on a 0.5% grade or less) as well as very few tangent (straight) track sections of sufficient length.



On the Millennium Line, the geometry only allows for a future station at Woodlands – most of the line has excessive gradients and curvatures between the original stations. Where flat and straight sections exist, they are often too close to existing stations to be of consideration (e.g, approx 500 m E of Commercial-Broadway station).



Hope this assists, let me know if you have questions.



________________________________________________
Ian Fisher, Project Planner, Project Planning
TransLink (South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority)
1600 - 4720 Kingsway, Burnaby BC V5H 4N2 Canada
Tel 604.453.3058 Fax 604.453.4697
[email protected] www.translink.ca