Millennium Line - Evergreen Extension | Completed

[officedweller]

Thanks!

Burquitlam Station is pretty well advanced.

[madog222]

Interesting that the pocket track is right in the middle of the station, probobly not enough space between the road and the CP tracks immediatly to the West. Renders suggest the northern (left side of picture) and middle track will surround the centre platform while the southern track will be for train storage, similar to Stadium-Chinatown without the side platform. Look closely at the first render and you can see a pair of tracks, not that renders are at all accurate.

[dpogue]

Originally Posted by madog222

Interesting that the pocket track is right in the middle of the station, probobly not enough space between the road and the CP tracks immediatly to the West. Renders suggest the northern (left side of picture) and middle track will surround the centre platform while the southern track will be for train storage, similar to Stadium-Chinatown without the side platform. Look closely at the first render and you can see a pair of tracks, not that renders are at all accurate.

The pocket track is just to the west of Moody Centre Station (source)

[madog222]

Originally Posted by dpogue

The pocket track is just to the west of Moody Centre Station (source)

Well there we go

[queetz@home]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Thanks!

Burquitlam Station is pretty well advanced.

And since its pretty well advanced, that means it *SHOULD* be open early! Make it happen Translink!

[GeeCee]

Originally Posted by queetz@home

And since its pretty well advanced, that means it *SHOULD* be open early! Make it happen Translink!

I knew that I would see something to this effect once I saw the post you quoted..

[red-paladin]

Email translink if you feel that way :0

[Jebby]

Originally Posted by queetz@home

And since its pretty well advanced, that means it *SHOULD* be open early! Make it happen Translink!

There's no point in opening just one station early.

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by madog222

Interesting that the pocket track is right in the middle of the station, probobly not enough space between the road and the CP tracks immediatly to the West. Renders suggest the northern (left side of picture) and middle track will surround the centre platform while the southern track will be for train storage, similar to Stadium-Chinatown without the side platform. Look closely at the first render and you can see a pair of tracks, not that renders are at all accurate.

The crane you see in the distance in the webcam shot is where the new station house is being constructed as part of the new Evergreen station. Conveniently, this new station house will also connect to the existing Westcoast express platform that can be seen in the webcam image.

This station house is elevated over the new evergreen tracks and connects to the western edge of the new Evergreen station platform, and connects near the middle of the WCE platform. Being elevated over the Skytrain tracks, it also makes for easy access between the 'kiss n ride' lot & bus platforms and the train platforms.

WCE and Skytrain are independent rail systems, so they need to have separate platforms because Skytrain cars and WCE cars use different platform heights.

Because of different fares between the two systems, there will need to be separated fare controls for each platform - even at stations that make for a convenient switch between WCE and Skytrain.


I won't be surprised to discover that someone living at Burquitlam station would rather take Skytrain to Moody Centre (one stop through the tunnel) and then take WCE to downtown (one stop), rather than travel from Burquitlam via Lougheed, change at Commercial to a packed Expo train to get downtown. For them, the convenience of a simpler commute will be the cost of two fares. With monthly fare cards, the cost differential may be less than a daily coffee.

[trofirhen]

Positive and interesting. Thanks.
It's great to see Vancouver, still a young city, and small mid-size, getting such a head start on transit.
(just look at larger American cities; similar sized or even larger cities can lag behind Vancouver the way Seattle, Denver, and Houston ()do,
- not counting of course NYC, DC, Boston, and other very large US centres like Chicago and SF, all very large with developed, mature rail transit)
I'd like to see our rail and metro infrastructure when we hit 4 million.

[red-paladin]

Do we know how much of the Burnaby Mountain tunnel has been constructed? 1/3 maybe?

[GeeCee]

Originally Posted by red-paladin

Do we know how much of the Burnaby Mountain tunnel has been constructed? 1/3 maybe?

Per their Facebook page, they were at Chateau Place a month ago. Segment 1126 - page six of this document: http://evergreenline.ca/documents/Maps_Graphics/BurquitlamPortMoodyAlignment.pdf

Contacting the project office might get a more updated status but I believe someone mentioned that they had to swap out the cutter heads recently so it's probably not much further than Chateau Place.

[red-paladin]

Thanks!

[casper]

Originally Posted by jsbertram

....
Because of different fares between the two systems, there will need to be separated fare controls for each platform - even at stations that make for a convenient switch between WCE and Skytrain.


I won't be surprised to discover that someone living at Burquitlam station would rather take Skytrain to Moody Centre (one stop though the tunnel) and then take WCE to downtown (one stop), rather than travel from Burquitlam via Lougheed, change at Commercial to a packed Expo train to get downtown. For them, the convenience of a simpler commute will be the cost of two fares. With monthly fare cards, the cost differential may be less than a daily coffee.

Longer-term I think a good move would be full fair integration between skytrain and Westcoast express Basically the system you see in some European (e.g. Zurich) where you pay based on where you start and end and not by the type of train.

That should help reduce overcrowding on skytrain and make public transit more attractive overall. It also helps increase ridership on Westcoast express that is a bit underutilised.

[red-paladin]

West coast express is a 'premium' 'express' type of transit. It's also not under utilized. We are talking trains with 9 bilevel coaches jam packed with people. It's actually about breaking even, which is rare for public rail transit, cause it's so maxed.

[GeeCee]

I'm not sure how many people will end up taking the Evergreen Line from East of Moody Station. While you will have to transfer a few times to get downtown on the Evergreen Line, you at least have a reasonable chance at getting a seat. Not happening on the WCE. Plus the additional cost and inflexibility of the schedule..

[DKaz]

Yup, Translink has finally started to break even with West Coast Express. Train #1 WB and #5 EB are 5 car trains, #2 & #5 WB and #1 & #2 EB are 8 car trains, #3 & #4 in both directions are 10 car trains. And they're all packed, standing room only between Port Moody sometimes Coquitlam and Waterfront.

It's a premium service. High back seats, quiet air conditioned cabins, washrooms, laptop tables and plugins, coffee bar. The low ridership numbers reflect the fact there are only 5 trains per peak hour direction then a couple of supplementary bus trips which are also quite busy. The high cost of operation is due to the exhorbitant amount CP Rail charges Translink to lease track time.

I can see some West Coast Express riders defecting to Skytrain as it may only add 10 minutes to their commutes, especially say those out in Mission who pay $336 for a 28 day pass to Waterfront and can save $135 transferring onto Skytrain at Moody Centre instead. But there's also opportunity. Someone who lives in Maple Ridge and works in Burnaby suddenly has a new faster way of getting to work, West Coast to Moody Centre then transfer.

[spm2013]

And the CPR/West Coast Express operating agreement expires next October with negotiations starting sometime next year.

[Jebby]

Would it be possible for TransLink to build an additional track alongside the CP track for the WCE?

[casper]

Originally Posted by DKaz

.....
It's a premium service. High back seats, quiet air conditioned cabins, washrooms, laptop tables and plugins, coffee bar. The low ridership numbers reflect the fact there are only 5 trains per peak hour direction then a couple of supplementary bus trips which are also quite busy. The high cost of operation is due to the exhorbitant amount CP Rail charges Translink to lease track time.

....

In some parts of the world. (Switzerland in my example), there is no fare difference between the "Premium" intercity and the local subway/tram service. It is all about distance.

Given the trains sit in a rail yard for most of the day, I would not call it an over utilized service.