SkiFreak Posted August 6, 2009 Report Posted August 6, 2009 From the Richmond Review: UPDATE: Canada Line to open mid-August http://www.bclocalnews.com/richmond_southd...s/52465452.html According to the article, trains will be running for free on Aug 17. There will be an opening celebration, and then trains will run for free for the public from 1:00 PM to 9:00 PM.
mr.x Posted August 16, 2009 Author Report Posted August 16, 2009 Well, it opens tomorrow. And it's going to be really, really busy....i can't wait!
towerguy3 Posted August 16, 2009 Report Posted August 16, 2009 yeah it should be wild I'll be riding wearing my Orange Vest, and hopefully YellowVest will show up too wearing Yellow
SkiFreak Posted August 16, 2009 Report Posted August 16, 2009 Well, it opens tomorrow. And it's going to be really, really busy....i can't wait! It's also my 30th birthday tomorrow. You can send birthday checks to me... kind of intersting it's opening on my 30th. The day BC Place opened, it was my sister's 10th birthday. I remember we attended the opening ceremony for that.
Kenadian Posted August 18, 2009 Report Posted August 18, 2009 Line ups are insane. Have been all day. I won't be riding it for a while.
Faster Posted August 18, 2009 Report Posted August 18, 2009 Btw, I forget where its mentioned but someone said about cities not needing airport thinks. Toronto is building one now (be reading in 2016) and Montreal is planning an airport link.
mr.x Posted August 18, 2009 Author Report Posted August 18, 2009 The Canada Line free ride opening was a gong show today, mostly because people rode from end to end instead of what a normal commuter would do. - 2-4 hour line ups for a handful of stations, at least 1-hour wait at all stations. - 2,000-5,000 people lining up at a handful of stations - 100,000+ people used the line today, even though it was only open for 8 hours Some pictures of the lines:
memorabilia Posted August 18, 2009 Report Posted August 18, 2009 Oh my god !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are you crazy, dear Canadian Peoples ? A so long queue just to try the new line .............. for free !!!!!!! Did they already cancelled the 98 B-line ?
SkiFreak Posted August 18, 2009 Report Posted August 18, 2009 The Canada Line free ride opening was a gong show today, mostly because people rode from end to end instead of what a normal commuter would do. Translink should've taken a hint from Disneyland and installed Fastpass machines for the day.
mr.x Posted August 18, 2009 Author Report Posted August 18, 2009 Here's a YouTube video of another line: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVokwS0kTi8 - 2-4 hour line ups for a handful of stations, at least 1-hour wait at all stations. - 2,000-5,000 people lining up at a handful of stations - 100,000+ people used the line today, even though it was only open for 8 hours
mr.x Posted August 18, 2009 Author Report Posted August 18, 2009 Oh my god !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are you crazy, dear Canadian Peoples ?A so long queue just to try the new line .............. for free !!!!!!! Did they already cancelled the 98 B-line ? Existing bus routes are being maintained until September 7th. Region-wide bus route changes will come on the following day to adjust with the new train service.
towerguy3 Posted August 18, 2009 Report Posted August 18, 2009 Only about a dozen people were riding the train this morning. At 9 a.m. I was the only person on the whole train
4gamesandcounting Posted August 18, 2009 Report Posted August 18, 2009 OMG. I'm worried. I'm assuming this is just a first day thing - it surely won't be like this during the games will it?!!!
mr.x Posted August 18, 2009 Author Report Posted August 18, 2009 OMG. I'm worried. I'm assuming this is just a first day thing - it surely won't be like this during the games will it?!!! It's a first day thing.
PinPanda Posted August 18, 2009 Report Posted August 18, 2009 The trick was to get on mid-way. I went to Oakridge at 6:30pm. There was a line to go south but no line to go north. Went straight to the platform and got on the train that was stopped there. Unfortunately one set of doors broke already. The train stopped for several minutes while they tried to close them. Eventually they were closed and they decided to keep them shut, which made it very hard to get off! Watch out for car 106 - problems already...
SkiFreak Posted August 18, 2009 Report Posted August 18, 2009 Seems like there were a few bugs in the system today: http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/C...ishColumbiaHome
mr.x Posted August 19, 2009 Author Report Posted August 19, 2009 TUESDAY RIDERSHIP/FIRST NORMAL DAY OF SERVICE: 70,000 Canada Line traffic settles down on Day 2 By Frank Luba, The Province August 19, 2009 12:05 AM David Nixon and Briana Wutsch waited until Tuesday to take their two-year-old son, Osiris, for a little ride on the newest train in town — the $2.05 billion Canada Line. The trio were among the 70,000 people to hop the train on its first official day of operation. The family lives near the Yaletown-Roundhouse station and were going to try the system Monday — until they saw the massive lineups for the free rides offered as a pre-opening public treat. “It was too long a wait,” said Nixon. Their plan was solid, as they got to experience the system Tuesday without being packed into the cars like sardines in a tin. More than 82,000 riders jammed Canada Line during Monday’s eight-hour preview of the 19-kilometre connection between downtown Vancouver, Richmond and Vancouver International Airport. InTransitBC spokesman Steve Crombie said only about 50,000 riders were expected, and the extra passengers forced the line to put on 19 two-car trains instead of the 15 initially used. The planned schedule was dropped too. “We started trains basically as often as we could,” said Crombie. Paid service started Tuesday morning at 4:50 a.m. from Waterfront Station and by 9:30 a.m., electronic counters showed just 9,000 people had crossed into fare-paid zones where they needed tickets. The number jumped to 33,000 by 2:15 p.m and hit 60,000 just before 6 p.m. — “so we’re anticipating we’ll hit at least 70,000 for the day,” said Crombie. Unlike the waits Monday that were as long as two hours at some stations, commuters — including a surprising number with suitcases headed to the airport — got a more “normal” view of the line than Monday’s almost excursion-like trip. Nixon, 34, and Wutsch, 25, liked what they saw. “It reminds me of other cities where I have taken metros or subways,” said Nixon, who owns a chain of clothing stores. Wutsch thinks the line will be most useful for Richmond residents wanting to get into Vancouver, but she plans to use it for trips to the airport when she travels with her toddler. “It will be nice not to have to drive,” she said. Both were particularly happy the line has finally been finished. “We’ve been dealing with the construction for three years,” said Nixon. “We’ve been living in a gated community,” joked Wutsch of the controlled access in their neighborhood. “It was a little rough. The dust and the noise and the trucks — but I guess it’s worth it.” As with almost anything new, there’s always a little confusion, and that continued Tuesday as people struggled to figure out which train they needed. There was also a hiccup with the new ticket-vending machines. People had trouble purchasing tickets with debit or credit cards because the new machines need to retain the cards longer than the older ticket machines. The new machines have three yellow lights and users must wait for all three lights to be lit up before withdrawing their card. Making it easy to pay is a priority for the line, because its business case was predicated on attracting 100,000 riders a day — a total that was supposed to be reached by 2013. TransLink spokesman Ken Hardie said current ridership is not an accurate “barometer” of ridership because buses won’t be fully integrated with the line until Sept. 7, the day of the next regular bus schedule change. “After Sept. 6, after Labor Day, is when all of the buses start focusing on the Bridgeport Station and Brighouse [station],” he said. — with a file from Jack Keating pics by raggedy13 at ssp Waterfront Loved these photographs Waterfront to VCC: Leaving VCC to Yaletown (filling up): Waiting at Yaletown for southbound train (after getting off and looking around the station briefly): Yaletown to Olympic Village/Broadway-City Hall: Getting off at Broadway:
mr.x Posted August 19, 2009 Author Report Posted August 19, 2009 People heading northbound at Broadway Back at Broadway after a quick bite to eat. Just missed the previous train but the ~6 minutes went by quite quickly: Southbound train pretty busy Some water clearly visible And its another full train
mr.x Posted August 20, 2009 Author Report Posted August 20, 2009 Holy crud, turns out 83,000 rode the Canada Line on Tuesday (not the gong show on Monday) on its first day of normal revenue service. Not 70,000 as first reported. That's incredible. Daily ridership needed to break even is 100,000, and that was projected for 2013. It looks like we may reach 100,000 within the next year.
IceNarcissus Posted August 20, 2009 Report Posted August 20, 2009 There will be plenty more ridership in the coming months when people start making different decisions on living, working, etc. when taking the canada line in consideration for transport time and distance, obviously.
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