Surrey Langley Skytrain - Expo Line Extension | U/C

[hollywoodnorth]

It's official: Major construction now underway on 16-km-long Surrey-Langley SkyTrain

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/surrey-langley-skytrain-construction-begins


can we get a thread title change please

[madog222]

Not under construction by SSP standards, just a few holes dug and some rebar cages laying around.

Once we have a picture or someone here reports to have seen concrete being poured we're officially U/C here.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

It's official: Major construction now underway on 16-km-long Surrey-Langley SkyTrain

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/surrey-langley-skytrain-construction-begins


can we get a thread title change please

I can't remember if the location of OMC 5 has been posted on here before. From the article:


Site of SkyTrain’s future OMC5 at 17916 Fraser Highway, Surrey, along the future Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension of the Expo Line. (Government of BC/Daily Hive)

[seamusmcduff]

Very excited for this to be done.

Should we take bets on when this will be completed? Scheduled opening of late 2029 makes me think that it will be summer of 2031.

[Stainer]

Originally Posted by seamusmcduff

Very excited for this to be done.

Should we take bets on when this will be completed? Scheduled opening of late 2029 makes me think that it will be summer of 2031.

I'm going to be bold and say it's done early.

[idunno]

I have more confidence in this region's abilities in delivering elevated rail rather than tunneled. Here's to mid-2029!

Maybe UBCX will be under construction before this is finished? (ok that's too much to ask)

[madog222]

This project definitely has far lower risk of being delayed by being fully elevated and [hopefully] not needding to deal with the outfall of a global pandemic. At this point it I think it's far more likely than not to be delivered on time.

I forget if this has been posted yet, here is the current schedule from the monthly status reports.


Image from Province of BC https://surreylangleyskytrain.gov.bc.ca/monthly-status-reports/

[Migrant_Coconut]

At least the "if it were light rail, it would already be open by now" pricks have shut up.

Yeah, it'd be open, and we'd already be talking about replacing it with a SkyTrain.

[BaddieB]

We already have light rail, it's all the Rapid Bus. I mean, they go the same speeds, so what's the difference.

[seamusmcduff]

I think the main thing that has a possibility of delaying it is the portion through the ALR, since my understanding is the pilings will need to be incredibly deep due to the soil conditions.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by seamusmcduff

I think the main thing that has a possibility of delaying it is the portion through the ALR, since my understanding is the pilings will need to be incredibly deep due to the soil conditions.

Yes there was talk on here about the ALR soil conditions (something to the effect of it being like peanut butter). If that happens I hope they start testing and open the first few stations like they did with the Millennium Line when it opened. That way we could have a phased opening while they're still doing work on the line.

[Mac Write]

How many train cars is OMC5 designed to hold and how future proof for expansion will it be?

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by Mac Write

How many train cars is OMC5 designed to hold and how future proof for expansion will it be?

I'm not sure how future proof it really needs to be, how much further east can the Skytrain realistically be expanded? Armchair experts are already muttering about the SLS extension passing through 2km of ALR farmland; After Langley City it's more like 12km of farmland until you hit anything remotely close to an urban area, and all you've done is hit Aldergrove.

It also doesn't seem to be the way that Translink plans things. OMC1 was built to support the Expo Line, OMC2 was built to support the Millennium Line (though the Millennium Line also shares with OMC2), Canada Line OMC was built to support the Canada Line, OMC3 was built to support the Evergreen Extension, OMC4 is being built to support the Broadway Extension, and OMC5 here will be built to support the Surrey Langley Skytrain.

[WarrenC12]

When does it make sense to consolidate some of these OMCs? Especially as the line stretches out into cheaper land values.

As for opening, I'll be ecstatic if this project can remain on its current schedule. That's the best we can hope for.

[Tvisforme]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

When does it make sense to consolidate some of these OMCs? Especially as the line stretches out into cheaper land values...

I'd guess that any benefit from cheaper land further out in the Fraser Valley would be negated by the operational costs of having to shuttle the trains back and forth.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Tvisforme

I'd guess that any benefit from cheaper land further out in the Fraser Valley would be negated by the operational costs of having to shuttle the trains back and forth.

That hardly seems like a good reason to me, but what do I know. Presumably the sales from more centrally located land would more than offset the new costs. After all they'd be near rapid transit and eligible for significant density.

[mcj]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

When does it make sense to consolidate some of these OMCs? Especially as the line stretches out into cheaper land values.

As for opening, I'll be ecstatic if this project can remain on its current schedule. That's the best we can hope for.

Why would that happen? Most of the future expansions of Skytrain will be to the west of the current OMCs where land is not cheaper (i.e. UBCx, North Shore line, 41/49 Avenues Line, Hastings Line).

[Tvisforme]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

That hardly seems like a good reason to me, but what do I know. Presumably the sales from more centrally located land would more than offset the new costs. After all they'd be near rapid transit and eligible for significant density.

Sorry, I should have been more clear about what I meant by "operational costs". Conceptually, Translink could certainly have a larger consolidated OMC out in Langley to save money on land. However, they would have to spend more time shuttling rolling stock back and forth, not just for maintenance and repairs but also for overnight storage. This would affect capacity on the Expo Line and, possibly, impact the ability to extend operational service later into the night. (While it's obviously not a real-world example, I remember having a Cities: Skylines region where the metro garages were located together on the outer edge of the city. It did not help with service capacity because the new empty trains were held up crossing the region mixed in with in-service vehicles.)

[officedweller]

Yeah, you'd have inbound service start at 6am and outbound service start at 7am. Likewise, inbound service would end an hour earlier than outbound service.
Remember that track work needs a clear overnight window for work. You wouldn't want to reduce that by 2 hours each night due to shuttling trains.

[dpogue]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

When does it make sense to consolidate some of these OMCs? Especially as the line stretches out into cheaper land values.

As for opening, I'll be ecstatic if this project can remain on its current schedule. That's the best we can hope for.

There're 2 aspects to it: one is storage capacity to park and clean trains overnight, and one is space to do actual maintenance on the vehicles.

Currently, OMC 1 storage is at capacity, and it is the only site with maintenance capabilities.
OMC2 has no storage space, and limited maintenance capability (it's been used for repainting trains, but I don't know if it has maintenance pits and hoists). OMC2's parking lot has also been taken over for the new SkyTrain Control room.
OMC3 is essentially just storage space, and has already been expanded once to fit more trains.

OMC4 is meant to rival OMC1 in terms of providing both storage space and maintenance capabilities. This is important for the Broadway extension because otherwise any train with a problem needs to be limped all the way back around to Edmonds, which causes delays system-wide.

I don't think we know the exact scope of OMC5 yet, but I'm guessing it will be primarily for storage, with a bit of maintenance capacity.

The staging and positioning of trains going into service is also important, particularly given that maintenance staff are out along the track every night and trains can't move until they have all of their equipment back in the yard. New OMCs provide new staging areas for that maintenance equipment to deploy faster, and also allow trains to enter the line closer to where they need to go into revenue service.