As SkyTrain Ages…………….
As predicted.
Yesterday, SkyTrain went ka-put, once again.
SkyTrain needs a massive refurbishment, about $3 billion infusion is needed to make it dependable again.
But, there is only so much money for transit projects, so the $3 billion Broadway subway and the $2.5 billion Surrey LRT get spending priority.
The result, no proper maintenance; unreliable service; and higher taxes to pay for this museum piece.
Translink’s and its CEO utter disregard for the fare paying customers is appalling and their lack of honesty, downright damning.
The transit customer in Metro Vancouver deserve better than this clown car.
SkyTrain trouble: Expect major delays on Expo Line this morning
Update: TransLink say the switch problem plaguing Expo Line service this morning has been and normal service is resuming.
Updated: June 8, 2018
Update: TransLink say the switch problem plaguing Expo Line service this morning has been and normal service is resuming.
A switch issue at Nanaimo Station is causing significant delays for people traveling on Expo Line during rush hour this morning.
TransLink says Expo Line trains are single tracking between Nanaimo and Stadium Station using Eastbound platforms.
Passengers are being told they can expect a minimum 45-minute delay.
TransLink says they are working on a bus bridge to help with passenger loads between Nanaimo and Stadium Stations. The bus bridge is for westbound travelers only.
“Due to a switch problem near Commercial-Broadway Stn, single tracking is in effect. This means trains are traveling in both directions alternating through on one side of the guideway. Service is still available, but trains are much less frequent than normal,” TransLink said in a release.
Millennium and Canada Line service is not impacted.
MORE TO COME
PEOPLE NOT HAPPY ABOUT THIS
Be thankful you don’t work for on the transit authority’s social media team this morning, because @TransLink is getting hammered on Twitter.
Interesting.
TransLink and the CEO keep bashing the point of how good the system is – how cheap the system is, yet another breakdown and piss poor effort by TransLink dealing with passengers.
Not mentioned in the news, but SkyTrain was down last week in the evening and we were stuck on the pig for 15 minutes.
What really irks me is that TransLink seems nonplussed when it breaks down and tends to blame the passenger for missed connections.
More and more I drive as I cannot depend on SkyTrain.
Skytrain is fast and reliable. It only takes 39 minitues to go from waterfront station to king george station. It is a great ride on one of the new trains.
Zwei replies: If it is operating that is. The timing is about the same for any grade separated, limited express service. But those who do not live near a station or destination is not near a station, portal to portal timing is much greater.
SkyTrain is fast, but on portions of Portland’s MAX, the LRV’s operate faster.
As one who must make two transfers to complete my trip, using SkyTrain is very slow. Sure the time on SkyTrain is fast, but omg the wait for a bus is almost unbearable.
The car is still a viable option and I can get from 200th in Langley to downtown in 30 minutes if it is not rush hour.
Impossible to drive from Langley to downtown in 30 minutes. Translink has a new express bus (#555) from 200th street in Langley to Lougheed station in 15 minutes. Then 35 minutes to downtown on skytrain.
Zwei replies: Sorry sunshine to burst your bubble, I did it not once but three times in May/June. 200th/#1 to 1st and Main.
Google Map Directions says 200th St in Langley to 1st and Main Vancouver is 47 km and 47 minutes using fastest route now, at 1.10 pm, which is not rush hour.
What kind of a pro-transit blog is this when you jump on every little breakdown on Skytrain but are mute when it comes to similar waits imposed on car traffic when there is a pile-up on the highway, especially at bridges and tunnels?
Contrary to what you think, this blog is promoting better transit and is not pro transit.
Pro transit, gives blanket approval to all transit schemes (if it is public transit it is good), yet bad transit, masquerading as good transit causes major issues.
The blog promotes a Vancouver to Chilliwack rail servcie, reinstating the original interurban service that once ran, By using the same route, such a service, 130+ km would cost between $750 million to $$1.5 billion and would provide a speedy servcie, compared to the car for many people who are without quality public transport. Not bad, when compared to a SkyTrain subway costing $3 billion.
This blog reports ills with SkyTrain, simply to contradict the notion that SkyTrain operated problem free, a bit cheeky yes, but while those who support SkyTrain report every tram accident they can, at the same time pontificating the fact that SkyTrain operated with absolutely no problem.
SkyTrain also has operational ills.
As for the trip via #1 to 200th St. in Langley, I was amazed first time how fast it was and i actually used a stopwatch for the last two times; 30 minutes and that in the flow of traffic.
I enjoy this blog, as eccentric as it is because of the wealth of information it contains. Zweisystem is pedantic, to be sure and maybe rude to a point, but really those who argue with him don’t seem to understand the fact that no one seems to want SkyTrain.
I wonder why?
An awful lot of LRT is being built.
I wonder why?
I also especially enjoy Haveacow because he does know what he is talking about, because my friends in the business talk the same way.
Now, I have an acquaintance who once worked on SkyTrain and he told me that it was a very dated rapid transit system and with the high costs building with it, he always wondered allowed why we keep building with it, while others have rejected it out of hand.
I could not even print what he said about the Canada Line, except for the fact it was a major con-job and the taxpayer is paying much more than he should to satisfy a former Premier’s ego.
If people in metro Vancouver, only understood how Vancouver is completely ignored with his SkyTrain only construction and how SkyTrain is considered an oddity, they may have a more realistic appraisal of the regional transit system.
It depends on where you start on 200 street langley and the time. From the Highway 1 and 200 street. Google maps says 30 mins at 8pm. Before 6pm, Google maps says 45-50 minutes. I have driven this before in morning and it takes about 45 minutes at the speed limit. Timing and speed does make a diference.
The former interurban was a good service and it was a shame it was cancelled. It was a privately run service. It wasn’t making a profit, so it was cancelled. BC transit could restart it on part of the former route east of Surrey or Langley. Until that happens, we have the fraser valley express bus from Langley to Chilliwack. It travels on a highway that is getting more congested. Replacing that bus with a train would make sense.
We have skytrain now. It is a fast service and if properly maintained should last a long time.
Zwei replies: The problem with the Expo Line is that the guideway will be soon “life expired” and billions must be spent renovating it.