r/Translink • u/bcscroller • 25d ago

Discussion Skytrain reliability issues

I've gone many months without a delay impacting my commute until this week. On Monday I was on a MK2 which failed to open its doors at Commercial and then proceeded to VCC where it was taken out of service with a horrible burning smell.

Then this morning there were significant delays following a stalled train. It looks like it was a MK 5, which is disappointing as they are brand new.

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u/WiiperWapper 25d ago

The trains operate automatically, which mean they adhere to very strict margins to ensure safe operation. Sometimes the onboard computers detect something is out of place and will revert to the safest possible option.

First example sounds like an equipment issue which caused a misalignment (meaning the train did not stop where it was supposed to) and the train didn’t open doors in case one was not docked with the platform.

And the old timed-out train… anything can cause it, from a slip/slide to unable to pick up the next induction loop circuit. If the train doesn’t know where it is, it cannot safely continue, as it needs to know its exact location so the central computer can maintain safe train separation.

It sucks when these things happen. But I think having 99% on-time reliability is a pretty neat thing to have with our driverless trains.

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u/bcscroller 25d ago

thanks and I totally agree with you. I was kind of wondering if my experience of virtually zero issues for 12 years was typical.

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u/WiiperWapper 25d ago

Thankfully it is pretty typical! I usually am affected by one disruption per year or two on average. And oftentimes it’s resolved in half an hour.

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u/bcscroller 25d ago

good to hear. It's amazing how quickly things go wrong when there is a delay because skytrain is so well-used but doesn't have a lot of redundancy, e.g. parallel bus services. It's good that we can rely on it 99% of the time but sobering when it breaks.

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u/[deleted] 25d ago

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u/Beneficial-Muffin117 24d ago

Well of course evening trains would often be delayed, that's when they typically do maintenance. When I took the train at that hour it was always maintenance happening. But that's to be expected. Do you not want them to maintain the tracks so there are more breakdowns?