As much of the Lower Mainland braces for the incoming snowfall forecast for Saturday night, so too is Metro Vancouver’s TransLink transportation services.
“Anytime that there is snow in the forecast, there is a number of people working incredibly hard throughout our organization to keep transit moving for our customers,” Dan Mountain said, a TransLink spokesperson.
For the SkyTrain system, TransLink said it will be deploying a special glycol train that will be running on all rails. The train sprays glycol which can drop the water freezing point to around -56 C.
TransLink teams will be also on standby as well to prevent emergency breaking and to prevent doors from freezing shut on SkyTrains.
“It’s all hands on deck (Saturday),” Mountain said.
“Our best advice is for customers is to ‘know before you go.’ Sign up for TransLink alerts, follow us on Twitter, or call our customer information team at 604-953-3333.”
If the SkyTrain system does experience issues, Coast Mountain Bus Company will deploy extra buses between stations to provide extra transportation support, according to TransLink.
The key priority for TransLink is transportation in and out of the downtown Vancouver core, especially with a Canucks hockey game on Saturday night.
Environment Canada has warned that heavy snow is expected for the region Saturday evening.
“For southern sections of Metro Vancouver, heavy snow is expected to transition to rain overnight, with total snowfall amounts near 10 to 20 cm,” it said.
“Consider postponing non-essential travel until conditions improve. Visibility may be suddenly reduced at times in heavy snow.”