Canada SkyTrain Line

[mr.x]

The vehicle for the Canada Line:

[deasine]

The vehicle for the Canada Line:

I didn't see this from the Canada Line website... Is this an aritist's impression from somewhere? I rather the train be exactly the same as the Mark II's... and instead of two windows between doors, one large window... hey I just noticed, it has Korean!!!! lol....

[mr.x]

This train is the exact same model, same design, and same specs. as our Canada Line trains. And of course, this is a rendering for a system in Korea. The trains will be built by Rotem, based in Korea. It's part of Hyundai.

It'll be quite a sight when a container ship pulls into the harbour carrying 20 of these two-car trains.

[mr.x]

From the Richmond News:

Quake won't topple Canada Line

By Nelson Bennett

Imagine you are riding the Canada Line rapid transit system when the earthquake hits.

It's a bad one - the same magnitude as the one that collapsed causeways and toppled buildings in Kobe, Japan in 1995.

You are on the Richmond segment, which is elevated five metres off the ground - ground that is prone to liquefaction during earthquakes.

You feel the train shake and sway, and you wonder if it will come off the tracks and plunge onto the cars below you on No. 3 Road.

The drivers of the cars below you wonder the same thing.

Roger Woodhead, engineer in charge of ensuring the Canada Line's design, says the swaying back and forth should be the worst thing that would happen during an earthquake.

"If a car did derail, it wouldn't go very far," said Woodhead.

The rail system is designed with concrete curbs to prevent cars from bouncing off the track, in the event they derail.

That's just one of the engineering methods used to mitigate the impact of a major tumbler, like the Kobe quake, which killed more than 5,000 people.

The earthquake damaged more than half of the city's bridges, collapsed elevated tracks for the famed Shinkansen fast train, and knocked over a huge span of the Hanshin Expressway - an elevated causeway built on concrete columns.

"I think the Kobe earthquake was a wakeup call," Woodhead said.

When they were given the task of designing the Canada Line, mitigating earthquake damage on the Richmond portion was one of the top things on the minds of engineers.

"It was one of the first things we looked at - what are we going to do as far as pilings in Richmond," Woodhead said. "There were 10 or 12 technical issues we had to deal with, and that was one of them."

Another challenge is boring a two-kilometre long tunnel underneath False Creek.

Richmond is an island built up over the millennia by silt deposited by the Fraser River. It has a subsurface three to 10 metres thick made up of water-saturated granular soils, says John Claque, a geologist with the Department of Earth Science at Simon Fraser University. On top of that is a layer of clay-like soil.

It's the subsurface of granular soil that liquefies during an earthquake.

"It's not like everything is going to slump into the sea," Claque said. "Not everything beneath Richmond is going to liquefy."

Liquefaction happens rapidly, but stops as soon as the ground stops shaking.

"It doesn't take very long - a minute or so," Claque said.

During liquefaction, the subsurface soils begin to flow, which can cause structural damage.

Much of the damage caused in Kobe was due to liquefaction.

Fortunately, the Kobe quake taught engineers some valuable lessons on mitigating the impact of earthquakes.

Roughly half of the Canada Line's 19 kilometres of track will be below ground, including a two-kilometre stretch running 35 metres deep beneath False Creek.

While the prospect of being trapped 35 metres down in a train during an earthquake might make the bravest person claustrophobic, it is probably one of the safer places to be, Canada Line officials say.

"Tunnels are very stable in an earthquake," Woodhead said. "You tend not to get very high forces underground."

Then again, the architects of the Shinkansen train in Japan were shocked to find parts of the train's tunnel collapsed.

One of the biggest challenges for Canada Line engineers was designing the North Arm bridge that will bring trains across the Fraser River from Vancouver to Richmond. The Middle Arm is a shorter span, so designing the bridge taking trains to the airport was not as challenging.

Below the silty soil that makes up Richmond is a sloping mountain of glacial till, which is relatively solid - solid enough to anchor the bridge with steel and concrete pilings.

On the Richmond side, engineers must go 45 metres down to anchor the pilings in till.

Building a bridge in sandy soil wasn't the only challenge. Because ships use the North Arm, engineers had to design the North Arm Bridge with only two piers, set 180 metres apart. Typically, they would have used more piers set closer together to give the bridge added strength.

"The challenge is to be able to build a bridge there and not interfere with the shipping channel," said InTransit public affairs vice-president Steve Crombie.

Having only two piers means they each must bear a heavier load. Moreover, because of the bridge's proximity to the airport, engineers were restricted in how high they could go with cable stay towers. These towers, like the ones on the Alex Fraser bridge, rise high above the bridge and strengthen it by applying upward pressure with steel cables.

They added strength to the bridge by running braided steel cables along its length.

"It holds it tight, basically, and takes the load," Woodhead said.

Half of the Canada Line will be elevated, coming out of the ground around 64th Avenue in Vancouver, and continuing above-ground for the entire Richmond segment, and for a portion of the airport segment.

There will be 250 concrete guideway columns, each one of which will have four to eight concrete and steel pilings. The pilings will be driven 12 metres down into what Woodhead describes as "fairly compact sand."

The tendency during an earthquake would be for the elevated causeway to bend in one direction, as the ground slips underneath. That slipping would pull pilings on one side upwards, and push the ones on the other side deeper into the ground.

To prevent that, Canada Line engineers came up with pilings that essentially have roots, like a tree. These "expanded base pilings" have a concrete bulb at the end.

This bulb - acting like a deeply buried root - would prevent the pilings on one side from being pulled up, and the ones on the other side from being pushed deeper.

The worst thing that could happen is that one of the concrete guideways could actually snap.

"I guess the column could break," Woodhead said, "but they're very heavily reinforced (with steel)."

As for the pilings themselves, there are doubly reinforced steel casings inside. They are also narrower than usual. Smaller diameters make it easier for liquefying soil to flow around the pilings, which decreases pressure on them.

This was discovered when computer modeling was done to test the design.

"Instead of this material pushing the piles over, it flows around them," Woodhead said.

Asked what the chances are that a train will be knocked off the elevated guideway during an earthquake, Woodhead said: "zero."

published on 12/15/2006

[mr.x]

Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, TransLink, Canada

Line announce Bridgeport Station Parkade Agreement

Great Canadian Gaming Corporation (GCGC), the Greater Vancouver

Transportation Authority (TransLink) and Canada Line Rapid Transit Inc. (CLCO) are

pleased to announce an agreement for the building and operating of a vehicle

parking facility adjacent to the future Canada Line Bridgeport Station and

immediately across River Road from the River Rock Casino Resort.

The agreement guarantees 1,200 spaces for transit users between 5:30 am and

7:00 pm on business days and available parking for Canada Line passengers during

transit’s off-peak hours. TransLink will set the parking rate during peak transit hours,

proposed to be $2 per day in 2009.

Originally, the parkade was to have been built by InTransitBC, the consortium

constructing the Canada Line, as part of the project. Under the agreement, GCGC

will build the facility. The new agreement will result in a better parking facility for

transit customers at the Canada Line’s Bridgeport Station as well as guests of River

Rock Casino Resort. The agreement will also reduce costs by $8 million.

“This new approach is very good for all concerned” said TransLink Chair Malcolm

Brodie. “Given that River Rock’s peak hours, evenings and weekends, are effectively

transit’s non-peak hours, we feel that this partnership with Great Canadian works

very well for everyone. Our customers - Lower Mainland transit users - will be getting

a larger, top notch facility with improved surveillance, lighting and retail amenities at

a low daily charge that will encourage transit use.”

The agreement calls for the transfer of 5 parcels of land residual to the needs of the

Project and $4.5 million to GCGC in return for which GCGC will build and operate

the parkade. “Some of the land included in the transaction is currently required for

the construction of the Canada Line but once the Line is built the property will no

longer be needed,” said CLCO Chief Executive Officer, Jane Bird. “Transferring the

land now to achieve a high quality parkade for transit users makes a lot of sense.”

“This agreement benefits both transit users and our guests so we’re very pleased,”

said Ross J. McLeod, Chief Executive Officer of Great Canadian Gaming

Corporation. “Our guests will have access to additional parking on the weekends

and in transit’s off-peak hours thus ensuring full use of the facility.”

About the Canada Line

The Canada Line rapid transit system will run fully separated from traffic between the

transportation hub at Waterfront Centre in Vancouver, the heart of Richmond’s civic precinct,

and Vancouver International Airport. With 16 stations, two bridges, over 9 km of tunnel,

parking and bus facilities, and transit capacity equivalent to 10 road lanes, the Canada Line

will be an important new link in the regional transportation network.

The Government of Canada and the Government of British Columbia, the Greater

Vancouver Transportation Authority (TransLink), and Vancouver International Airport

Authority are funding the Canada Line, which is also supported by the Cities of Vancouver

and Richmond. The project is overseen by Canada Line Rapid Transit Inc. (CLCO), a

subsidiary of TransLink. The Line is being designed, built, operated, maintained and partially

financed by InTransitBC.

[mr.x]

New pictures - December 2006

Bridgeport Guideway looking east at Operation and Maintanence Centre

Overhead look at Bridgeport Guideway

Bridgeport Guideway

Special precast box beam structure over Railway Tracks and Bridgeport Guideway & Station Structure

Precast I-Girder Guideway under Oak Bridge

[mr.x]

Info on Waterfront Station from the DPB report:

Axonometric showing new south entrance by United Kingdom Building and perspective views of south entrance:

[deasine]

Not my prefered design, I like the one in the original building more... This design has the a station entrance on the sidewalk, taking up more sidewalk space...

Hopefully Granville St. will have the Sears design one...

[Guardian]

Call me ignorant here, but can the Waterfront Station area be compared to Toronto's Union station complex in any way? I mean, it looks like that it is connecting point to a couple Skytrain lines and other mass transport links, too.

[mr.x]

Not my prefered design, I like the one in the original building more... This design has the a station entrance on the sidewalk, taking up more sidewalk space...

Hopefully Granville St. will have the Sears design one...

I think it's a better design since it's closer to the core. The Sinclair Centre entrance option was right across the street from the Waterfront Station entrance....it's too close.

Vancouver City Centre Station entrance will still be at the plaza in front of the TD Tower/Sears entrance. There will be another underground entrance directly from Pacific Centre, and there is a possibility of a third entrance from Robson Street....or at least, a knockout panel will be built on the south end of the station concourse.

Call me ignorant here, but can the Waterfront Station area be compared to Toronto's Union station complex in any way? I mean, it looks like that it is connecting point to a couple Skytrain lines and other mass transport links, too.

Yes, you can. Waterfront Station: Expo SkyTrain, Millenium SkyTrain, Canada Line, SeaBus, bus, and West Coast Express.

[Guardian]

Thanks for clarifying that point, mr.x. It is very fitting that Vancouver should have a big mass transportation hub, for a city of its size and place in the world like that.

[mr.x]

VANCOUVER CITY CENTRE STATION

- note that City Council has disapproved the "concrete fin" in the station entry:

[mr.x]

[deasine]

This design is better than the previous ones... But more importantly, there should be at least some kind of underground connection between Granville station and Vancouver City Centre...

[mr.x]

This design is better than the previous ones... But more importantly, there should be at least some kind of underground connection between Granville station and Vancouver City Centre...

The future connection to Vancouver Centre is seen to be the underground connection between the Canada Line and SkyTrain.

[mr.x]

A look at Cadillac Fairview's future plans for Pacific Centre:

Expanding the mall where the Sears plaza is

Tearing down the Pacific Centre dome entrance and plaza for more retail

[mr.x]

YVR-Airport Station And Elevated Guideway Update

Construction of the Canada Line, YVRAirport Station adjacent to the main parkade near the International Terminal will begin this month and continue until the end of 2008.

Elevated guideway construction activity adjacent to Grant McConachie Way and near the International Terminal will continue through 2007. At times, there may be minor delays to motorists and pedestrians during construction, although crews will make every effort to minimize any inconvenience to the public. Access to the airport and its facilities remains open and accessible at all times, and there will be no loss of parking during construction. However, motorists and pedestrians are encouraged to allow extra travel time prior to arrival or departure at YVR in the event of temporary construction delays.

This next stage of work includes site preparation, piling, foundation and column construction work for the elevated guideway and the station structure and walkway. This activity will typically occur during daytime and nighttime hours on weekdays, with the possibility of weekend work, if necessary. The public in this area may experience general disruption associated with truck traffic, noise from crews and heavy equipment, vibration, dust and inconvenience.

The north and south elevators from the main parkade to the International Terminal will remain open and accessible from January to May 2007. In May, when the launching girder (crane) is installing the concrete guideway segments, the north elevator will permanently close to the public. The south elevator will remain in use, and crews will make every effort to maintain the south elevator throughout all construction activity. All walkways from the main parkade to the airport terminals will also remain open and accessible.

Construction of the YVR-Airport Station includes building two new elevators, which will replace the existing north and south elevators. Once the new elevators are operational, the existing south elevator will be permanently decommissioned. A new walkway will also be built to connect the station to the main parkade.

[mr.x]

A couple very recent pictures of guideway construction near Bridgeport Station and then on Sea Island. You can sort of see how close the support is to the Arthur Laing approach.

[mr.x]

With 80 metre platforms, peak maximum frequencies of 90 seconds, this is SkyTrain at its worse - Celebration of Light fireworks and system breakdowns. I'd hate to see how the Canada Line will cope in these same two situations.

Celebration of Light fireworks - crowds wait to get into Waterfront Station

Daily rush hour and breakdowns

Now just imagine, the Canada Line platforms will be 40 and 50 metres long. This is a 80 metre station at Commercial (the Canada Line platforms will be roughly half the size of this picture):

[Vancouver_rocks]

wow, i hate how they're half assing this project so much. I hate all the NIMBY's in this city that ruin everything.

[SkiFreak]

What's the status of the Evergrean line? Is that even gonna get built?

[mr.x]

What's the status of the Evergrean line? Is that even gonna get built?

Construction is set to begin in September 2007, but if the $400 million funding shortage isn't filled by April - the line will be cancelled.

[deasine]

With 80 metre platforms, peak maximum frequencies of 90 seconds, this is SkyTrain at its worse - Celebration of Light fireworks and system breakdowns. I'd hate to see how the Canada Line will cope in these same two situations.

Celebration of Light fireworks - crowds wait to get into Waterfront Station

Daily rush hour and breakdowns

Now just imagine, the Canada Line platforms will be 40 and 50 metres long. This is a 80 metre station at Commercial (the Canada Line platforms will be roughly half the size of this picture):

Haha... they are going to figure something out by then... maybe add a 'SkyTrain' bus heehee... =P

[Guardian]

What are the fares for using the existing Skytrain lines so far? I know that the further a passenger wants to go by using the trains, the one-way fare increases. I can only assume that this scenario will apply to the Canada Line, once it starts operating.

[mr.x]

What are the fares for using the existing Skytrain lines so far? I know that the further a passenger wants to go by using the trains, the one-way fare increases. I can only assume that this scenario will apply to the Canada Line, once it starts operating.

Here is the transit fare zone map:

To ride through the entire length of the Canada Line (yellow and red zone in Vancouver and Richmond), you need to go through two zones.

Here are the pricings, which are the transit fares:

Regular Fares

Weekdays from start of service to 6:30pm

Adult Concession

1 Zone $2.25 $1.50

2 Zone $3.25 $2.00

3 Zone $4.50 $3.00

TransLink provides up to 90 minutes of travel for each cash fare or FareSaver ticket. After 6:30 pm, travel through any and all zones is $2.25 adult and $1.50 concession.