First new SkyTrain cars in service
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Updated: July 03, 2009 4:40 PM
SkyTrain passengers can now ride at least a couple of the new Mark II cars that are arriving this year to ease rapid transit congestion.
One train (#306) has been put in service with the dark blue and yellow cars – the first to take riders out of an order of 48 new cars coming by next February at a cost of $193 million.
A total of 10 Mark II cars have arrived from Bombardier so far.
But ones not yet in service are so far running as ghost trains that stop at stations without taking on passengers.
Each car needs to conduct trial runs totaling 2,000 kilometres as part of their extensive testing before going into active service.
More of the new cars should be running in the next few weeks, said TransLink spokesman Drew Snider.
The new cars will boost SkyTrain capacity by 30 per cent on the Expo and Millennium Lines once all have arrived.
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Passengers on board the new SkyTrain cars Friday. Courtesy buzzer.translink.ca |
"It is a major milestone for our passengers, who, once all our new trains are in service, will enjoy longer trains at key stations during peak periods, shorter wait times on platforms and an overall improved customer experience," said Doug Kelsey, CEO of TransLink's SkyTrain subsidiary.
The new cars have more handholds and less standard seating, but more room for disabled passengers.
Each car also has four video surveillance cameras.
"They're video capture so it's not live coverage," Snider said.
TransLink is also moving forward with plans to buy more West Coast Express passenger cars.
It signed a deal Friday with Bombardier for seven more cars at a cost of $28.1 million to be delivered by September 2010.
The cars, to be built in Thunder Bay, Ontario, will allow West Coast Express to add one car to each train – carrying an extra 150 passengers per trip, or 750 more per day.
Two of the new cars will be used as spares.
The commuter rail service to downtown Vancouver expects increased traffic volumes from Langley, due to the startup of a new connecting bus service over the Golden Ears Bridge.
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