There’s good news and bad news for New West residents accustomed to taking SkyTrain.
Beginning Oct. 22, the Expo line will have two routes – one branch will travel between Waterfront and King George stations and another will run between Waterfront and Production Way-University stations. The Millennium line will no longer travel to and from Waterfront station, and will now run between VCC-Clark and Lougheed Town Centre stations, continuing on to the Evergreen extension when it opens later this year.
Under the new operating pattern, customers can transfer between Expo and Millennium lines at Commercial-Broadway, Lougheed or Production Way-University.
“Obviously, with the new Evergreen line coming into service at the end of this year, there are going to be some changes on how SkyTrain operation works,” said Mayor Jonathan Cote. “There will be some impacts to the city of New Westminster, particularly for those residents who get on the SkyTrain line and like to ride the Millennium line all the way to VCC-Clark. That will be a connection that will no longer be possible without having to make a transfer. It can be at Lougheed or at Production Way.”
Cote said New Westminster strongly advocated for the train to continue as far down the line as possible. While the initial plan was to end service at Lougheed Town Centre, he’s pleased it’s been extended to the next station on the line – Production Way – as that’s the transfer point for people from New Westminster and Surrey to get to Simon Fraser University.
“If you have to go farther than Production Way, you’ll have to get off the train and wait for the next train,” he said. “These changes were necessary to better integrate into the Evergreen line.”
Ian Fisher, manager of operations planning for the B.C. Rapid Transit Company, said the changes are being made to accommodate demand expected on the system and to make the system easier for customers to understand. He said the Millennium line has confused people for more than a decade because it doubles back through the same station twice, but the changes will create a more straightforward east-west line.
Local residents took to Twitter to comment on TransLink’s announcement, with some feeling the changes make sense. Others believe “chaos” will ensue because of the changes and some predict they’ll drive more often.
“I think probably when the changes start to come into play at the end of October there probably will be a little bit of confusion, but I know TransLink is going to be putting a lot of effort into communicating the changes and making sure people understand the changes that occur,” Cote said. “Beyond the first week in change in service, I think the regular users will adapt quite quickly to the changes and understand what’s happening.”
Cote said there is definitely a negative impact to New West residents as they won’t be able to travel seamlessly on SkyTrain to VCC-Clark, but local residents will benefit by being able to take the train to the Tri-Cities.
“There are some slight drawbacks for SkyTrain users in New West, but I think they are outweighed by the larger benefit of the new accessibility of the new stations on the Evergreen line.”
Commuters can visit www.translink.ca to see how their travel plans will be affected come Oct. 22.
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