Waterfront station (Vancouver)

"Waterfront Station" redirects here. For the station in Singapore, see Waterfront Monorail Station.

Waterfront Station is a major intermodal public transportation facility in Downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Location

Waterfront Station is located on the south shore of Burrard Inlet, just east of the north foot of Granville Street at 601 West Cordova Street. The station is within walking distance of Vancouver's historical Gastown district, the Canada Place cruise ship terminal, the Helijet International helipad, and Vancouver Harbour Water Aerodrome, the downtown float plane terminals for Harbour Air and West Coast Air.

Other nearby facilities include the downtown campuses for Simon Fraser University and the British Columbia Institute of Technology, federal government services in the Sinclair Centre, the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre, and the Harbour Centre revolving restaurant and observation deck. Underground passages connect to the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel and Canada Place. There are also two other street-level entrances to the station, one on Howe Street to the west for access to the Expo and Millennium Lines (Labelled as Platforms 1 & 2 on the station map) and another on Granville Street to the south for access to the Canada Line. (Platforms 3 & 4)

The Waterfront Station was one of the first to receive Translink's New "T" Signage denoting a transit station More T Signage. This signage is being installed in the downtown core of Vancouver to help visitors during the 2010 Olympics identify a Transit hub.

Services

The entrance to the Waterfront SkyTrain station

The Waterfront Canada Line station

Waterfront Station is the intermodal terminus in downtown Vancouver for the following TransLink services:

• SkyTrain Expo Line to Burnaby, New Westminster and Surrey;
• SkyTrain Millennium Line to Burnaby and New Westminster (via the Expo line) circling back to VCC–Clark Station in East Vancouver;
• SkyTrain Canada Line to Richmond and Vancouver International Airport
• West Coast Express commuter rail and TrainBus to Port Moody, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge, and Mission;
• SeaBus passenger ferry to Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver;
• Various local, suburban, express, and commuter bus routes;
  • HeliJet International does not directly serve Waterfront Station, but its helipad is adjacent to the SeaBus terminal and therefore passengers can use the SeaBus's overhead walkway to access Waterfront Station's main terminal building.
  • The Vancouver Harbour Water Aerodrome float plane terminals are also located nearby, approximately two blocks west of Canada Place.

History

Waterfront Station at night.

Waterfront Station was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in 1910, and was the Pacific terminus for the CPR's transcontinental passenger trains to Montreal and Toronto until circa 1979, when VIA Rail took over the railway's passenger operations and terminated their trains near False Creek (originally the Canadian National Railway station, now called Pacific Central Station).

Waterfront Station's transformation into a public intermodal transit facility began in 1977. That year, SeaBus began operating out of a purpose-built floating pier that was connected to the main terminal building via an overhead walkway above the CPR tracks. The CPR's passenger platform and some of its tracks were torn up in the early 1980s to make way for the guideway of the original SkyTrain line (Expo Line), which opened in late 1985. During Expo 86, special SkyTrain shuttle trains operated between Waterfront Station and Stadium–Chinatown Station (then named Stadium Station), connecting the Canadian Pavilion at Canada Place to the main Expo site.

In 1995, platforms were built adjacent to the SkyTrain station for the new West Coast Express, which uses the existing CPR tracks. (The West Coast Express platforms are in the same location as the old CPR platforms.) In 2002, Millennium Line trains began sharing the SkyTrain tracks with the Expo Line. In 2009, the Canada Line opened with a separate platform for Canada Line trains.

A private ferry company, Royal SeaLink Express, ran passenger ferries from a new dock on the west side of the SeaBus terminal to Victoria and Nanaimo in the early 1990s, but ultimately folded. In 2003, HarbourLynx began operating out of Royal Sealink's old facility at the SeaBus terminal. In 2006, following major engine problems with their only vessel, they folded as well.

Previous CPR station

The current station is the third CPR station, the second CPR station was located one block west at the foot of Granville, and unlike the current classical-styled Waterfront Station was built in "railway gothic" like the CPR's many railway hotels.

• CPR Station, foot of Granville, 1906
• [1]

See also

• List of heritage buildings in Vancouver