Two-year Burrard SkyTrain UpGrade Cancelled
Posted by zweisystem on Saturday, March 26, 2022 · 2 Comments
Who says TransLink is not hurting financially?
And what about that pesky $3 billion Expo/Millennium Line midlife rehab?
The canceled rehab and upgrade of the Burrard Station maybe the beginning of new fiscal realities post Covid. The former transit customers who used transit pre Covid are not coming back, meaning they are not buying tickets, and Translink is not collecting revenue. Local empty express buses(maybe 5 or 6 seats occupied) in South Delta is certainly testament that something is very wrong.
The upsurge of Tesla and other electric cars maybe badly hurting TransLink chances in recouping ridership.
Why take the bus when I can drive my electric!
What this clearly shows that TransLink is in more than bit of fiscal bother, rather it just be the shape of things to come, operating an extremely expensive light-metro system designed for the 1980’s, just may not be the way to attract customers post covid.
Dated planning; dated infrastructure; and dated operating practices are now showing their hand, yet politicians remain deaf to this, lost in a transit ennui that the bigger and more expensive infrastructure that is built (read Subways), will create transit nirvana.
From my perspective, it is merely doing the same thing over and over again, hoping for different results, which of course is the definition of insanity.
Postscript:
This bodes ill for any upgrade and rehab for the Canada Line, where the estimate cost to upgrade the line to increase capacity past 9,000 pphpd was around $1.5 billion and now certainly to increase past $2 billion!
Two-year Burrard SkyTrain station called off for now, upgrades cancelled
Posted Mar 25, 2022, 12:52PM PDT.
Upgrades to the Burrard SkyTrain Station in Vancouver would have forced the station to shut down for two years will not go ahead as planned.
TransLink says due to higher than anticipated construction bid prices and supply chain issues, it isn’t able to go through with the work it announced last year.
The original plan would have seen the station close starting early this year. The work would have doubled the number of escalators and elevators at the station, as well as relocate the Burrard Street entrance and redesign the station’s outdoor plaza.
TransLink says it’s working with Indigenous Nations and stakeholders to develop a new scope, budget, and timeline.
The Burrard SkyTrain Station was originally built in 1985. TransLink says it has not seen any significant upgrades since then.
It is the fourth busiest SkyTrain station with 7.6 million people passing through every year, according to TransLink.
This is good news.
The upgrade wasn’t needed.
Copied this from your link.
“During the two-year closure, passengers will have to use the Granville or Waterfront SkyTrain stations instead. TransLink says based on pre-COVID ridership data, those two stations can handle the additional volume.”
If granville and waterfront stations can handle the precovid ridership from Burrard station. Then what is wrong with burrard station?
The elevator, esculators, and mechanical systems should be replaced or upgraded. The station don’t need to change that much. The glass design of the station is quite nice. They could add a second elevator.
I have been to these types of meetings before, the person in-charge will ask,”what group of really expensive repairs from the list of really expensive repairs and upgrades do we need the least (what isn’t falling apart yet)?” Well, Vancouver you just got the first answer, anything that involves passenger handling capacity upgrades in stations and probably right of way upgrades as well. My guess power system handling upgrades are next, this increases the number and size of trainsets the Skytrain Network can operate at any one time.