Canada Line Ready Soon

Vancouver Sun

Commentary

Contrast this two billion dollar multi-faceted engineering project with the one billion dollar Olympic Village, and it's clear something is seriously wrong with Millennium's design and execution. The Canada Line had to dig up most of Cambie Street, and build a rail line across two stretches of water. It is being completed months early. It still has to be tested but there is time to fix any minor bugs. What's happening with the Olympic Village?

Excerpts

TransLink is optimistic the new Canada Line will be built and operating after the Labour Day weekend when commuters and students traditionally overcrowd roads and transit at the end of the summer break.

In its 2009 Budget and Business Planning Summary, TransLink says the new transit line, which will connect Richmond and the airport with Vancouver, is ahead of schedule and “expectations are the system will be in operation in late summer or early fall.”

Construction schedules released in January also showed all but some interior finishing in stations, as well as train testing and commissioning, was to be completed by the end of June.

According to the construction report, work on all three downtown Vancouver stations will be finished by the end of April. Further south, some stations will be done by the end of April, others in May, and YVR Airport Station by the end of June.

All 20 two-car trains have arrived and they've been tested in Richmond, at the airport and as far north as 41st Avenue in Vancouver.

“Sooner is better as far as TransLink is concerned, but we would defer to [InTransitBC] to set the date,” Hardie said. “Very clearly they’re the ones who need to get it tested and commissioned.”