Evergreen Extension

File:Evergreenline.JPG

A map of the proposed line.

Evergreen Line is the latest proposed rail transit line in Greater Vancouver, Canada. It is proposed to run from Lougheed Town Centre SkyTrain station in Burnaby through Port Moody to Coquitlam, and is planned to begin operations by the end of 2011.

The SkyTrain rapid transit lines currently operated by TransLink in the Greater Vancouver area use automated metro technology and run on elevated guideways or in tunnels, as will the Canada Line. The Evergreen Line, by contrast, is a light rail line: it will be mostly at grade and will use tramways.

History

Originally, a rapid-transit line going into Coquitlam was intended to be part of the new Millennium Line that was completed in 2002. As the costs of the project rose, however, the plans to build the extension to the new line into Coquitlam were halted, though not before a third incomplete platform on the westbound side of the Lougheed Town Centre station was built, with a spur of tracks for the extension.

After completion of the Millennium Line, TransLink has undertaken several studies regarding the fate of the Coquitlam line, considering a variety of possible options including a diesel multiple unit-based railway, a tram line, a new SkyTrain line, and an express bus service. In September 2002, the 97 B-Line express bus service was implemented. Eventually, in 2004, it was decided that a tram line was the best option, as it would better blend in with the neighbourhood, cost less, better fit the ridership patterns and not cannibalize customers from the existing West Coast Express.

Route description

The Evergreen Line (green) as part of the Greater Vancouver's SkyTrain rapid transit network in 2011.

Most of the new line will be built at street level, with one tunnelled section and two elevated sections. It will begin at the Lougheed Town Centre station at the unfinished platform originally built for such expansion, run northward along North Road and Clarke Road, then through a tunnel under Burnaby Mountain to Port Moody, then towards Coquitlam Centre where it will have another elevated section, and finally north towards Guildford Way. Future expansions into Port Coquitlam and northeastern section of Coquitlam are possible.

Stations

While the plans are still not completely finalized and are subject to change, at the present the line is proposed to have the following stations (italics indicate a station potentially added after completion of the line):

• Lougheed Town Centre (connection to the Millennium Line, major transit exchange)
• Cameron
• Burquitlam
• Kyle-Queens (Old Town)
• Port Moody (connection to the West Coast Express)
• Ioco-Moray
• Falcon
• WCE (at Coquitlam Central Station; major transit exchange, connection to the West Coast Express)
• Lincoln
• Coquitlam
• Douglas

See also

• 97 B-Line

External links

• TransLink
• Evergreen Line project website