SkyTrain Station Renovations

[hollywoodnorth]

MAIN STREET Pre-Construction Open House

http://www.translink.ca/en/Plans-and...-Involved.aspx

January 8, 2013 4:30 p.m. - 8 p.m. Telus World of Science - Our World Room
1455 Quebec Street, Vancouver

[nname]

Interesting thing from that page:

Upgrade Schedule

[...]

Phase 2 Fall 2013 to Summer 2014

[...]

SkyTrain service will operate normally with the exception of Fall 2013 to Winter 2014 (4 months) when SkyTrain will operate Main Street Science World shuttle train service.

Shuttle trains: Two-car trains will provide service to/from Main Street - Science World Station via Waterfront and Commercial-Broadway Stations.

- The shuttle trains will stop as normal at Waterfront, Burrard, Granville, Stadium-Chinatown, Main Street-Science World and Commercial-Broadway stations.

- Passengers travelling to/from Main Street-Science World Station should plan for up to 10 minutes of extra travel time.

- All other trains will operate normally with the exception of Main Street-Science World Station which will become a "skip stop". i.e. trains will move through the station without stopping.

So does the existing service got a slight reduction in service (either lower frequency or with less 6-cars MkIs) or they'll run trains a lot more frequently in that segment?

Existing Broadway-Waterfront shuttle runs one-way every 12min, and obviously they're going to run it more often than that during construction. Maybe running it every 5.4 minutes (3x the headway), and have a train every 81s alternating like:

- Waterfront <-> King George *Express*
- Waterfront <-> Broadway *Local*
- Waterfront <-> King George *Express*
- Waterfront <-> VCC/Clark *Express*

If that's the case, I actually do wish they stick with this even after the construction (except that all trains stops at Main Street). This way Surrey got slight reduction in service (less 6-car MkIs) but benefits from a more even headway; Millennium Line got slight reduction in service that's not yet needed; Broadway to Waterfront got much more service [17,500 pphpd vs 15-16,000 pphpd] that is very much needed...

[Gordon]

when they start these renos at main st. station they will have to advertise this and also make sure the platform led signs are bright & clear. the ones at stadium station is very dull on bright days.

[officedweller]

Boy, is that description poorly phrased. I can see a lot of passengers not understanding it.

They start describing the plan without defining what "shuttle service" is.

They should say:

- SkyTrain service will operate normally with the exception of Fall 2013 to Winter 2014 (4 months) when Main Street Science World Station will be served only by two-car shuttle trains operating between Waterfront Station and Commercial-Broadway Station. All other trains will by-pass Main Street Science World Station.

- The shuttle trains will stop as normal at Waterfront, Burrard, Granville, Stadium-Chinatown, Main Street-Science World and Commercial-Broadway stations.

- Passengers travelling to/from Main Street-Science World Station should plan for up to 10 minutes of extra travel time to allow transfers to/from a shuttle train.

- All other trains will operate normally with the exception of Main Street-Science World Station which will become a "skip stop". i.e. trains will move through the station without stopping.

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Boy, is that description poorly phrased. I can see a lot of passengers not understanding it.

Thanks for the clarification, OD - you're completely correct about how obfuscated their description is.

I assume they're doing this because they need to shut down one end of the platform for construction at a time?

[jlousa]

Here is the link for those interested.

http://www.translink.ca/~/media/Docu...0Upgrades.ashx

Not sure why they are doing it the way they are, they could just as easily close Main st, and have everyone destined for Main disembark at Stadium and opertate a single 2 car shuttle back and forth between Stadium/Main. Or even easier a single shuttle bus should suffice.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by jlousa

Not sure why they are doing it the way they are, they could just as easily close Main st, and have everyone destined for Main disembark at Stadium and opertate a single 2 car shuttle back and forth between Stadium/Main. Or even easier a single shuttle bus should suffice.

Probably because the travel pattern is the same as the existing short turn train between Commercial-Broadway and downtown - so the software programming already exists and they know the interlining (using the siding east of Broadway Station and the tail track east of Waterfront Station for turning movements) will work without undue disruption to other revenue trains. Short-turning at Main Street would require using the switch west of Main Street Station, and "wrong-side running" for a segment, which would likely conflict with desired frequencies for other trains.

Passenger volumes are probably too large for buses (and/or the cost of scheduling drivers could be high).

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

I assume they're doing this because they need to shut down one end of the platform for construction at a time?

Sounds like it - the operational part of the platform will only fit a 2-car train.

[nname]

Originally Posted by jlousa

Not sure why they are doing it the way they are, they could just as easily close Main st, and have everyone destined for Main disembark at Stadium and opertate a single 2 car shuttle back and forth between Stadium/Main. Or even easier a single shuttle bus should suffice.

It is impossible to operate the shuttle train the way you mentioned. There is no switch around Main Street station, so all shuttle trains must either run on single track or go to at least Broadway to turn around. And if shuttle on a single track is used, then the main line must also share one track. Single tracking on that segment means they must reduce the headway on the main line to around 12min (instead of 1.8min).

As for shuttle bus.. the boarding for Main Street station currently peaks at more than 1,200 per hour. This would require much more than just one bus... 3 articulated buses would be needed at the very minimum. It would probably cheaper to operate shuttle train than shuttle bus.

[hollywoodnorth]

starting now

see you all out

MAIN STREET Pre-Construction Open House

http://www.translink.ca/mainstreetstation

January 8, 2013 4:30 p.m. - 8 p.m. Telus World of Science - Our World Room
1455 Quebec Street, Vancouver

[DKaz]

Did anyone take any photos? I wanted to go but my kids were sick.

[Millennium2002]

(delete pls, i duplicated a post)

[DKaz]

^^^ I only see one post...

[officedweller]

Globe & Mail article on the Main Street Station renos.

In the print version of the article, the reporter screwed up and said that the station would be closed for 4 months.

I see that the mistake has been corrected in the on-line version after a comment posted by "SkyTrain Lady"
- but the reporter still doesn't explain the shuttle service (I suspect she doesn't understand how it will operate).

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle7091485/

[officedweller]

Article over at the Buzzer Blog with pic (looks very open at grade under the platform):

http://buzzer.translink.ca/index.php...tion-upgrades/


http://buzzer.translink.ca/index.php...tion-upgrades/

[hollywoodnorth]

Originally Posted by DKaz

Did anyone take any photos? I wanted to go but my kids were sick.

photos of what?

http://www.translink.ca/~/media/Docu...0Upgrades.ashx

all the info boards are there. nothing else was shown

[DKaz]

Cool, thanks.

I wonder why the east station house is so long?

[hollywoodnorth]

Originally Posted by DKaz

Cool, thanks.

I wonder why the east station house is so long?

oh ya its as big as the west one.

it will house, 2 CRU's facing main, large bike locker system with a swipe card system (unlike the key/locks used now), elevator (larger than the one on the west side much like the broadway ones with glass), escalators, tickets, gates, etc. so lots of stuff to go in there

*the west elevator will be rebuilt but there is not room to expand its size much due to the site constraints of that side*

[Mac Write]

Will there be both up and down escalators? I really think up and down should be mandatory as the next level of accessibility. Some people have trouble with stairs, but are fine using an escalator.

[GeeCee]

Originally Posted by Mac Write

Will there be both up and down escalators? I really think up and down should be mandatory as the next level of accessibility. Some people have trouble with stairs, but are fine using an escalator.

From the looks of the PDF, there will be up and down escalators on the west side, but only up on the east side. They are adding an escalator to the east side as well, however.

[huenthar]

down escalators are a waste of space... the people who absolutely need them are few enough that they can use the elevator.

Translink was looking at installing washrooms at key SkyTrain stations a few years ago... considering the city-owned one at the east entrance that will need to be relocated anyways, I really hope they put a public restroom in that huge east station house. Much more useful than retail space!!