With hundreds of thousands of people expected to pack downtown Vancouver for Saturday’s Canada 150 celebration, TransLink is gearing up for the crowds.
The transit authority is adding more Expo and Millennium Line trains and the Canada Line will be operating at rush hour levels in order to transport people in and out of the city centre.
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“We will be monitoring crowds, especially near the end of service times,” said TransLink spokesperson Jill Drews.
“We don’t plan on leaving anyone behind but we want to make sure that you know the last Expo Line-Millennium train leaves at 1:16 a.m. from Waterfront and our Canada Line train will leave at the usual time.”
TransLink is also increasing SeaBus service, and for the first time will be running a Canada Day West Coast Express train.
That train leaves Mission for Vancouver at 11 a.m., with the return trip leaving Waterfront at 7 p.m.
But you may want to plan ahead if you plan on using the bus system — buses will operate on Sunday/holiday schedules.
“We recommend that anyone using transit uses our trip planner at Translink.ca to find the route that works best,” Drews said.
Transit Police will also be out in full force at transit hubs.
The holiday is usually quiet, said Metro Vancouver Transit Police spokesperson Anne Drennan, but authorities aren’t taking any chances.
“We don’t typically have a lot of serious problems,” Drennan said.
“It’s more problems related to crowding or problems related to people who have had too much to drink — that kind of thing. We’re very hopeful that people will just enjoy themselves, have a good time and that the problems will be few.”
Drennan said Transit Police will be stationed anywhere there is a major hub and holiday events, including downtown Vancouver, Surrey, Port Moody, and Coquitlam.
- With files from Kyle Benning
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