TransLink has completed upgrades to the Granville Station and is set to reopen with six new escalators to improve customer experience.
Three of the new escalators are the longest in Metro Vancouver with more than 500 steps in total. Two entrances at Granville and Seymour streets will also reopen.
- Customers travelling through Granville Station now have access to:
- Six new escalators with enhanced safety, durability and reliability;
- New wayfinding signage and monitors displaying the next arriving trains;
- Granville Station’s main entrance from Granville Street; and
- Granville Station’s Seymour Street entrance and staircase.
“Investing in the modernization of transit facilities is essential to keep up with the changing needs of users and to ensure the sustainability of our existing infrastructure,” said Terry Beech, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard and Member of Parliament for Burnaby North—Seymour, on behalf of the Honorable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities. “We are proud to be a partner in these important Granville Station upgrades that will help transit users safely navigate the SkyTrain network for years to come. Canada’s Infrastructure plan invests in thousands of projects, creates jobs across Canada and builds stronger communities.”
This C$14.52-million (US$10.68-million) investment for new escalators is part of the larger Rapid Transit Systems Rehabilitation and Maintenance Project paid for through the Public Transit Infrastructure Fund (PTIF). PTIF is funded by the government of Canada (50 percent), the government of British Columbia (33 percent) and TransLink (17 percent).
“Investing in a reliable, safe and robust transportation system is a top priority for our government,” said Bowinn Ma, Parliamentary Secretary for TransLink and MLA for North Vancouver-Lonsdale. “The upgrades to the Granville Station will make it easier for people to get where they need to go safely as they return to using SkyTrain. This investment is part of our government’s ongoing commitment to make life better for everyone.”
Granville Station is the first of 13 stations to receive new escalators as part of TransLink’s Escalator Replacement Project. TransLink will replace 37 escalators that are more than 30-years old along the Expo Line and at select West Coast Express stations. Construction is currently underway to replace escalators at Commercial-Broadway, Columbia, Waterfront and Nanaimo stations.
“Descending 25 meters underground, Granville Station is the deepest station on the transit system and its escalators are the longest in Metro Vancouver,” said Jonathan X. Coté, chair of the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation. “Those escalators were over 30-years old – and the Mayors’ Council highly prioritizes keeping aging transit infrastructure safe and reliable. The old escalators were iconic to all who visited Vancouver’s downtown core, and these new escalators will be an icon for years to come.”
Quick facts:
- Granville Station’s three longest escalators are more than 35 meters (115 feet) long, the longest in Metro Vancouver.
- Each of these escalators travel 12,744 kilometers (7918 miles) per year – roughly the distance from Vancouver to Mumbai, India, or Sydney, Australia.
- Prior to construction, these escalators carried 10 million people per year – roughly the population of Sweden or Portugal.
- Since 1986, these escalators have travelled nearly 385,000 kilometers (239,227 miles) – which is 10 trips around the Earth.
“The completion of these Granville Station upgrades couldn’t come at a better time, just as many of our riders are returning to SkyTrain,” said TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond. “Prior to construction, the 30-year-old escalators supported nearly 30,000 customers every weekday. Improving the customer experience on transit is a key priority, while also ensuring our infrastructure is safe and reliable to benefit the travelling public for many years to come.”
