Metro Vancouver’s transit and transportation agency is looking at new technology to help address complaints about noise from the SkyTrain system.
Screeching rails from trains on the nearly 40-year-old Expo Line has been a regular complaint from residents who live near the rapid tansit line.
While TransLink has some longer-term fixes in the works, Global News has learned it’s preparing to install new “rail friction modifiers” on trains as a short-term tool to reduce noise.
The units work by creating “better friction between the wheel of the train and the top of the rail,” according to TransLink spokesperson Dan Mountain.
“We trialed this technology a little bit earlier and found this technology could reduce sound by about nine decibels,” he said.
That noise reduction, however, won’t be immediate. TransLink is still in the process of securing a contractor to install the units across the system.
In the meantime, the agency is moving forward with its longer-term work to reduce noise, bolstered by $35 million announced in May for track replacement.
“The main thing we are doing is replacing all of the aging rail along the original portion of the Expo Line. We’re about halfway through now and we’re starting the second half of that work,” Mountain said.
“We are installing what’s called rail dampers across our system to kind of make the sound lower as the train goes along it.”
The funding will help TransLink replace about 10 kilometres of rail and 24,000 rail pad assembly units, while using stronger steel for smoother and more dependable rides.
Work is currently underway between Commercial-Broadway and Nanaimo stations. The next three phases will include work on sections from Royal Oak to Edmonds station, Edmons to 22nd Street Station and Joyce-Colllingwood to Patterson stations.
TransLink has also updated its switch maintenance policy to try and cut down on noise and is working with developers to ensure new construction near SkyTrain lines is built to dampen noise, he said.
Track replacement work is scheduled for completion by 2027.