Transit Briefs: TransLink, Santa Clara VTA

Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
SkyTrain’s 11.8-mile (19-kilometer) Canada Line in metro Vancouver will have a 17th station starting in spring 2023. The C$52 million Capstan Station (rendering above) will be located between the existing Bridgeport and Aberdeen stations.

SkyTrain’s 11.8-mile (19-kilometer) Canada Line in metro Vancouver will have a 17th station starting in spring 2023. The C$52 million Capstan Station (rendering above) will be located between the existing Bridgeport and Aberdeen stations.

Vancouver’s TransLink has begun construction on the new C$52 million Capstan Station, to serve SkyTrain’s Canada Line. In addition, California’s Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) on Sept. 4 resumed light rail service on the Blue Line, just days after restoring full Orange Line and partial Green Line service.

SkyTrain’s 11.8-mile (19-kilometer) Canada Line will have a 17th station starting in spring 2023. The C$52 million Capstan Station will be located between the existing Bridgeport and Aberdeen stations (see map below). It is only the second time TransLink has built an additional station to serve an in-operation SkyTrain line. Lake City Way Station was completed on Nov. 21, 2003, a few months after the Millennium Line opened, the agency reported.

The Capstan Station project is a public-private partnership of TransLink and the city of Richmond. TransLink and the city signed a funding agreement in 2012, in which the city agreed to raise funds from area developers in exchange for density bonuses. This is the first funding partnership of its kind for TransLink, and so far, the city of Richmond has collected C$32 million, according to TransLink.

Compared with the 16 existing Canada Line stations, Capstan Station will include these added features: dual escalator sets; a larger concourse; increased platform length and waiting space; commercial retail space; and public art.

In December 2019, TransLink and the city agreed to the design concept, and through 2020, design work continued and was shared with the public through a virtual open house in November.

“Capstan Station will be the cornerstone of making Capstan Village centered around zero-emission, fast and reliable transit,” Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie said. “This growing urban community is projected to bring up to 16,000 new residents to Richmond, and this new transit station will help position our city as an even more attractive place to live.”

In related developments, Infrastructure Canada last month reported that the government of Canada and TransLink have committed C$236.7 million (US$188.49 million) to build additional SkyTrain maintenance facilities. In addition, TransLink in July announced it will begin upgrading the Burrard SkyTrain Station on the Expo Line in early 2022.

Santa Clara VTA has restored Blue Line service from Baypointe to the Children’s Discover Museum (see map below). Service also expanded on the Green Line from Old Ironsides to Diridon Station. The Orange Line began full operation from Alum Rock to Mountain View on Aug. 29, and the Green Line started running from the Civic Center to Old Ironsides on Aug. 30.

Light rail service had been suspended since the May 26 shooting at VTA’s Guadalupe Yard. There were 10 fatalities and multiple injuries. The gunman, a VTA employee, was among the dead.

Bus bridge service will no longer run along the Blue Line route. Light rail hours of operation are:

VTA on Aug. 24 began testing light rail trains from its Guadalupe Yard in downtown San Jose to Baypointe Station in North San Jose along North First Street, as part of its six-phase service restoration plan.

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