Quote:
Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture
do we know how long the platforms will be on the Evergreen line? i cant remember it being said. I'm curious if they are long enough for 3 MKII trains or if they are sticking with 6 MKI length platforms. i would hope they are longer for future expansion since it is 2014/2015 and all.
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The question is a bit confusing.
The longest trains running today are either 6-car MkI or 4-car MkII (and future MkIII) trains, but the current cars are joined as 'married pairs' of A-B cars, so MK I trains can be A-B (two cars), A-B+A-B (four cars), or A-B+A-B+A-B (six cars), and Mk II cars can be A-B (two cars) or A-B+A-B (four cars). The MkII cars also have an articulating joint between the married cars, so passengers can move between the two cars.
The new MkIII trains are expected to be 'married quads' of four cars (A-C-C-B) with articulating joints between the cars, so passengers can move through the entire length of the train of four MkIII cars.
A 6-car MkI train is roughly 76 metres long, and a 4-car MkII train is roughly 70 metres long. Although a 4-car MkIII train isn't running in Vancouver, it is expected to be slightly shorter than a 4-car MkII train because the 'nose-to-nose' connection in the middle is replaced with an articulating joint between the 2nd and 3rd car.
Most Expo platforms are 80 metres long, so there were proposals to have 5-car MkII (A-C-B+A-B) or 5-car MkIII (A-C-C-C-B) trains that would still have all the train doors line up with the platform, but the ends of the train would overhang the platform. Even with this modest change of train configuration, there were major renovations needed at several stations to accommodate the extra crowds by adding more stairs and elevators, and major infrastructure improvements (notably more power substations).
Going to even longer trains will require all platforms to be lengthened, and a proposed new size is 100 metres, with an 8-car MkI train or a 6-car MkII / MkIII train still having its ends overhang the longer platform. This will require very expensive reconstruction of all the older stations, and may be too expensive to be done on the underground stations. If the underground stations don't get lengthened, they will limit the size of trains that can be run on that line.
As for the Evergreen platforms, I had heard that the new stations will match the 80 metre length of the rest of the Skytrain system, but platforms 'can be easily extended in the future'. Platform length was likely a victim of the cost-cutting needed to make the Evergreen extension more affordable, and the perception at one time that Evergreen was to be a branch-line of the Skytrain. To some planners, Evergreen would only be running 2-car or 4-car MkI cars as a 'shuttle' between Lougheed and CapCollege, and wouldn't even use the full 80 metre platforms.
Current thinking is it will be operated as a separate line between VCC and CapCollege via Lougheed, and Expo will be primarily Waterfront to King George, with some trains as Waterfront to Lougheed (not continuing to VCC), so by building the new Evergreen stations with platforms matching the rest of the system, trains are usable throughout the Skytrain system.
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