It’s the 30th birthday of Vancouver’s SkyTrain system, and like any milestone, it’s a chance to celebrate the past rather than dwell on the future.
It may be hard to believe now, but when the Expo Line opened to the public from Waterfront to New Westminster station on December 11, 1985, it was heralded as the pinnacle of rapid transportation.
But despite the praise and plans to expand to Coquitlam, Richmond, and even Delta, there were mechanical problems with the SkyTrain even on its very first day.
Here are five videos we’ve uncovered that showcase the rise of SkyTrain in the 1980s.
1. SkyTrain on track
This 15-minute documentary by BC Transit in 1983 shows construction of the first stretch of the SkyTrain line, built at Main Street and Terminal for demonstration purposes.
“Tickets will be intermodal, from SeaBus to city bus, to rapid transit,” the narrator breathlessly intones.
“One fare, many rides.”
While the video has little footage of the SkyTrain in action, it is highly recommended if you like cheesy 80s music or men in hard hats.
2. SkyTrain officially opens
Premier Bill Bennett and a host of dignitaries take the first car on its official opening 30 years ago. But the automatic doors don’t work when the try and get out at New Westminster. Hours before, there was another derailment on the line, the fifth one that happened during testing.
“Did it surprise you that a train had derailed again?” asked our own John Daly to Bennett later that day.
“No,” said Bennett.
3. Car or SkyTrain: which is faster?
When the SkyTrain opened, there was much curiousity about the driverless contraption high above the ground. We told readers it was “the equivalent of an eight-lane highway”, but the question remained: could it cross Vancouver quicker than a car?
On the day it opened, Global News/BCTV reporters Clive Jackson and Pamela Martin had a competition: Jackson would take a car from New Westminster, and Martin would take the SkyTrain.
“The winner is the first person to get to the front of the Waterfront station downtown,” says Jackson.
Martin brags that she can read The Province and have lunch during her commute, but Jackson pulls ahead once he gets on Highway 1, and arrives at Waterfront in 24 minutes and 14 seconds.
Meanwhile, the SkyTrain had stopped working.
“We have been at this very stop for at least five minutes. I don’t know what’s happening,” said Martin, stuck at Granville Station.
“Clive, this isn’t fair! It’s not supposed to do this.”
It never did again, right?
4. Going to Town – a 1985 documentary on SkyTrain
BC Transit, not content with the 15-minute documentary made in 1983, produced a 28-minute opus to the SkyTrain in 1985.
Complete with an enchanting, saxophone-based soundtrack, the documentary shows the construction of the Expo Line over the previous four years, along with the most advanced graphics possible for 1985.
But the documentary isn’t content to show the evolution of Vancouver’s rapid transit: it seeks to explain why it matters in the city’s overall development. These are the first words the narrator says:
“Some two-and-a-half thousand years ago, the Greek philosopher Aristotle summed up the reason why cities should exist. The purpose of the city, he said, with immutable simplicity, is to make people happy and safe. Time changes cities, but not the purpose of them.”
5. SkyTrain expansion to Delta?
The feedback from the Expo Line was so great, and Metro Vancouver’s desire for more rapid transit so large, that in 1989 premier Bill Vander Zalm announced $1 billion in funding for SkyTrain to expand in multiple directions. More importantly, he said the expansion would now be funded like highways, meaning no municipal funds would be needed.
“In order to move rapid transit along quicker, we in fact have to take over the cost, which otherwise would have been placed on the region,” said Vander Zalm.
And where will these new stations be?
“By 1995 there will be a line, preferably from Edmonds Station to Lougheed Mall,” said the reporter.
“And Richmond to Vancouver rapid transit, not necessarily SkyTrain, will have 15 stops.”
But wait, there’s more!
“Future connectors are planned for Coquitlam Centre, Steveston and Ladner…by 1991, high-speed marine vessels could ply the route between Port Moody and Vancouver, with 20-minute service during rush hour. In 1994, there will be a third SeaBus.”
And who applauded these promises, which all definitely came to fruition?
“This is a billion-dollar commitment to public transit, how can I not be happy about that?” said a beaming Gordon Campbell, Mayor of Vancouver.
“We’ve said for as along as I’ve been involved, we think the provincial government should be making a commitment to reinforcing our transit system on the same basis as they do provincial arterials. They’ve made that commitment today. That’s a major, major breakthrough.”
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