One of the most common complaints I hear about train on social media are the conditions of the older SkyTrain cars.
Usually it involves the lack of air flow, the smell, the crowded feel and the noise.
A new Mark III SkyTrain nicknamed “Marky” is being unloaded (Photo via TransLink)
Ugh, the noise of the older cars – it’s like fingernails on a chalk board, only if you were crammed into a tiny space with 100 strangers all staring at their phones while somebody scraped their fingernails down the chalkboard.
But help is on its way.
TransLink recently took delivery of “Marky” - the newest Mark III SkyTrain — which, according to the transit authority’s Buzzer Blog, arrived in Metro Vancouver on Sept. 12 after a week-long trek across Canada.
“Marky’s the first four of 56 cars (no. 429, 430, 431 and 432) for the Expo and Millennium Lines, built by Bombardier Transportation, to arrive,” said the blog. “Twenty-four additional cars will arrive early next year and another 28 by the end of the same year, for a total of 56 cars for the Expo and Millennium Lines.”
The cars will be more like the ones on the Canada Line to Richmond – which after leaving some of the old Expo line cars feels like the flight attendant pulled back the drapes and let you sit in first class.
What happens next is “Marky” will be put through a battery of tests to make sure it can withstand the rigours of life on the SkyTrain.
You can see more photos and videos about “Marky” here.
