TransLink announces that the newly-upgraded Granville Station is set to reopen with six new escalators to improve customer experience.
In a release, the transportation authority states that three of the new escalators are the longest in Metro Vancouver with over a whopping 500 steps in total.
Two entrances at Granville and Seymour streets will also reopen.
Starting Friday, customers travelling through Granville Station will 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
- Granville Station’s Seymour Street entrance and staircase
This $14.52 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 per cent), the Government of British Columbia (33 per cent), and TransLink (17 per cent).
“The completion of these Granville Station upgrades couldn’t come at a better time, just as many of our riders are returning to SkyTrain. 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," says Kevin Desmond, TransLink CEO.
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 over 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.
Have a look at a video of the new station upgrades below.
Quick facts:
- Granville Station’s three longest escalators are more than 35 metres (115 feet) long, the longest in Metro Vancouver
- Each of these escalators travel 12,744 kilometres 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 – which is 10 trips around the Earth
Transit aficionados may now purchase TransLink-branded face masks from the company's online store.
Last month, the transportation agency launched a new campaign aimed at encouraging the use of face coverings and non-medical masks on Metro Vancouver’s transit system. As part of the ‘Wearing is Caring’ campaign, it is handing out more than 15,000 TransLink branded masks at key transit hubs.
In addition to branded face masks, the campaign also includes systemwide posters and decals installed to promote the use of face coverings and non-surgical masks.
