Millennium Line - Evergreen Extension | Completed

[Mac Write]

When I was on a Mark III when the doors closes a visible gap could be seen, then they fully closed about 20 seconds are leaving the station.

[xd_1771]

421-424 has been in service for maybe around a week, and the same goes for many of the Mk III trains out there on the system. Only 401-404, 405-408 and 417-420 have been in service for longer.

I'm certainly hoping the media will be more lenient this time. When 405-408 had issues it had been out there for over a month (405-408 is our first ever in-service Mk III) so I can see some reason to have been concerned. Even then, train time-out issues would probably not have had anything to do with the trains being Mark IIIs though, so much as the system still not having that auto-restart function that would've alleviated all of our past big issues.

[MIPS]

Originally Posted by mrtinvan

I wonder if the MkIII issue could be similar to the issue with the Toronto Rocket trains, where if the doors fail to close x number of times in a row the onboard computers need to be rebooted.

I seem to recall that's a safety system. If the door fails to close I think six or so times the train locks its brakes and signals the control room for an attendant and can only be cleared locally.

[Anorak]

Originally Posted by Express691

It's lit up wrong too LOL

I believe that photo was taken before October 22 on a Millennium Line Train, but they had put new maps on

[Express691]

Just spotted a 4 car mark 1 train doing a King George trip

[MIPS]

Before any of you start being nostalgic and thinking about the "old Millennium Line", shaddup. I made sure on my last visit to town to tape one last run from Waterfront to VCC withe camera fitted with a stabilizer.

[jollyburger]

Translink Twitter from today:

A train lost communication with the main cpu system and had to be removed from the area manually, causing delays. ^BK

https://twitter.com/TransLink/status/790672387511648260

[twoNeurons]

I for one think naming it the evergreen extension is a good thing.

This was they will, in the future, be able to just get rid of the Evergreen Branding once and for all more easily. Which, I think, is the plan.

I do realize that they had to include it somewhere because they'd made such a big deal of naming it in the first place but in reality it is phase II of the MLine. It should never have been separately named in the first place.

I look forward to the day a few years from now when the extension is not considered an extension any longer.

In other news... I took a ride on a 400 series train yesterday. No way they're going to keep me from lifting my kids up onto the front area. It's the best seat on the train for 2–6 year olds! They love it!

[xd_1771]

I gotta agree that doing this, at least for now, is a pretty good idea because it looks really damn visible on the map. Like, it kind of highlights the fact that this is gonna be a part of the system. The consistency means everyone already riding the SkyTrain knows about it, so I think this may help maximize the ridership draw to the new line - both during the initial few days and afterwards as it begins to serve all commuters.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by twoNeurons

This was they will, in the future, be able to just get rid of the Evergreen Branding once and for all more easily. Which, I think, is the plan.

Chances are that it's going to pop up again when they get around to building a new line (Hastings, Willingdon, etc).

[artmarkii]

Originally Posted by Anorak

I believe that photo was taken before October 22 on a Millennium Line Train, but they had put new maps on

Yes, correct. It was taken on October 21st, so that was before the SkyTrain changes.

[Millennium2002]

The history of the line is the only reason the branding has gotten this convoluted. Recall that:

- During the time the Millennium Line was built, it was proposed to be and roughed in as a future extension of such
- Just before the Olympics, the plans were changed by Metro Vancouver such that it was an LRT line with completely dissimilar technology to save on cost, hence the separate Evergreen Line moniker
- When the province took over the project from the region and converted it back into SkyTrain, they kept the name of the line and heavily promoted it
- Now that TransLink is preparing to operate it, it has decided that "Millennium" is more dominant than "Evergreen" and thus it has become the Evergreen Extension instead.

Conversely, the Canada Line went much more smoothly in terms of naming as:

- It was a completely new line and not an extension of any other
- The temporary name was just an acronym of the localities it passed through... RAV = Richmond Airport Vancouver
- The final name was settled on as it was being built, not beforehand

Perhaps this should be a lesson for future projects on how not to promote names for them when the final details aren't settled yet.

[CanSpice]

I can't wait for the extension to open! They must be getting close, I see 2-car trains on it all the time now up near Coquitlam Centre.

[dothediu]

I have only seen 2 car Mark 2's on the Millennium Line. Should we expect the same when Evergreen extension opens, or did they say they will run longer trains?

[twoNeurons]

Originally Posted by allan_kuan

The history of the line is the only reason the branding has gotten this convoluted. Recall that:

- During the time the Millennium Line was built, it was proposed to be and roughed in as a future extension of such
- Just before the Olympics, the plans were changed by Metro Vancouver such that it was an LRT line with completely dissimilar technology to save on cost, hence the separate Evergreen Line moniker
- When the province took over the project from the region and converted it back into SkyTrain, they kept the name of the line and heavily promoted it
- Now that TransLink is preparing to operate it, it has decided that "Millennium" is more dominant than "Evergreen" and thus it has become the Evergreen Extension instead.

Just think about how ridiculous it would have been to rename the portion of the line from Lougheed to VCC as the Evergreen line.

I don't remember them naming the line or having a naming contest before the technology changed to SkyTrain before the Olympics, but my memory is fuzzy in that department.

Evergreen did offer a good way to differentiate the extension from the rest of the line, but it could have been simply named the PMC (Port Moody-Coquitlam) line during planning by RTP2000 as that's what it was known as anyhow.

Some argue that Millennium Line isn't a good name for a line either, which I do agree with, but other than letter-naming like New York, I don't see any other good alternative. It seems to fit with the Expo Line, as well. The Canada line could have been called the "Olympic" line but the more that I learn about the "Olympics" (plural) the more happy I am that we aren't giving any more exposure to them, indirectly or not.

[TransitFreak]

Yes, as far as I know it's 2-car trains at higher frequency, giving overall increase in capacity on current millenium line service.

As for some other observations, rode it on Sunday, and got confirmation from skytrain attendant that the trains are running all the way to Lafarge Lake as part of the testing process, and also the sign board at platform 3 also shows the destination as Lafarge Lake. Was interesting to see the train movement at the station, the Lafarge Lake bound train was crossing over just as the Expo line train was pulling into the station, and by the time that train left, the VCC-Clark bound train from Burquitlam was coming down the hill and making the turn. Also saw all three platforms with trains stationed.

Interesting train movement I saw was a two car MKII.5 coming I assume from the train yard, holding out just before the switches then crossing over to the 3rd platform, stopping to 'pick up' passengers, then head outbound to Burquitlam.

I think people will soon realize where the most efficient transfer point will be. They'll soon realize there's no point going to Production Way for only one stop if they need to continue on the Millenium line, and at Production Way University heading eastbound, to transfer here if they need to go to Braid and Sapperton rather than transfer at Lougheed and do the down and up transfer.

On a side note, had some people dumbfounded as to where to go on the Sunday - people are really ingrained with their habits or muscle memory reflexes when commuting. I liked the Vancouver Sun article regarding the delays on Monday, where the longer trains were taken out of service in Production Way and people told to get out - uhhh, yeah, that's the end of the line for the Expo train. Guess people will have to realize there's two trains to choose from at Lougheed. On the Sunday, saw people get on the Expo line train only to see them one stop later at Production Way lol...

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by twoNeurons

J
The Canada line could have been called the "Olympic" line but the more that I learn about the "Olympics" (plural) the more happy I am that we aren't giving any more exposure to them, indirectly or not.

The Olympic committee (IOC) is massively protective of their 'brand' - there was no way the Canada Line was going to be able to use the name. They have to license the name to use it for Olympic Village.

Originally Posted by TransitFreak

On a side note, had some people dumbfounded as to where to go on the Sunday - people are really ingrained with their habits or muscle memory reflexes when commuting.

That exactly why I e-mailed a few people about the change as soon as it was announced and again when they did the reminder about it just before the change.

[Monolith]

Originally Posted by TransitFreak

Yes, as far as I know it's 2-car trains at higher frequency, giving overall increase in capacity on current millenium line service.

A quick calculation shows that capacity has actually gone down on the Millennium line. At peak hours there was ~44 cars per hour before Oct 22nd, and now there is only ~34 cars per hour. Seems to be a ~25% drop.

[nname]

Originally Posted by Monolith

A quick calculation shows that capacity has actually gone down on the Millennium line. At peak hours there was ~44 cars per hour before Oct 22nd, and now there is only ~34 cars per hour. Seems to be a ~25% drop.

The majority of that 44 cars/hr were MkI cars, whereas all of the current 34 cars are MkIIs.

[TransitFreak]

Originally Posted by nname

The majority of that 44 cars/hr were MkI cars, whereas all of the current 34 cars are MkIIs.

Correct...I think the capacity is 230 per pair of MKII's and 320 for MKI 4 car set, so the frequency compensates for lack of cars...