An aging stretch of Metro Vancouver’s SkyTrain system will be getting a facelift to the tune of nearly $35 million.
The money, half of which will come from the federal government and half of which will come from TransLink will be used to replace running rail and rail pads on the Expo Line in Vancouver and Burnaby — an area residents have complained has become excessively noisy.
“Over the next four years this investment in proactive maintenance will help to replace the running rail pads for TransLink’s Expo line to ensure the ongoing safety and reliability of the lines while reducing noise in nearby communities,” Vancouver Quadra MP and Fisheries and Oceans Minister Joyce Murray told a media event Friday.
“The Expo line is the oldest line in Metro Vancouver’s rapid transit system and much of the track is original. It’s impressive to reflect that since 1986 this track has carried more than 2 million trains,” added Dan Coulter, B.C. Minister of State for Infrastructure and Transit.
“These upgrades will make housing more livable along transit lines and support our transit-oriented development goals.”
TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn said the work is necessary to ensure the system remains both safe and reliable, as SkyTrain rails become worn down and damaged over time.
The funding will allow the transit and transportation agency to replace about 10 kilometres of track and 24,000 rail pad assembly units.
The upgrade will also include new state-of-the-art materials, including stronger steel, which will make the system both smoother and more dependable while reducing noise, he said.
“No train system is silent. It can be noisy at times,” Quinn said. “But our commitment at TransLink is absolutely to do what we can to reduce that noise residents are hearing.”
Quinn said TransLink commissioned an independent review on noise reduction in 2018, which recommended long-term solutions like the rail replacement project, along with shorter-term measures.
Those include rail grinding, more switch maintenance, and working with developers to ensure new buildings along the line have noise mitigation built in.
Quinn told reporters that rail replacement work is already underway on a stretch of the Expo Line between Commercial-Broadway and Nanaimo stations.
The new funding will cover the next three phases, on sections from Royal Oak to Edmonds station, Edmons to 22nd Street Station and Joyce-Colllingwood to Patterson stations.
The work is slated for completion by 2027.
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