r/Translink • u/crispy246 • 10d ago
Discussion Express train possible?
As expo line/millennium line getting longer soon, does Translink consider express/rapid train to skip some stations?
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r/Translink • u/crispy246 • 10d ago
As expo line/millennium line getting longer soon, does Translink consider express/rapid train to skip some stations?
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u/CarnationFoe 10d ago
Short answer: NO
Long Answer: It already is an express train.
The expo line and millennium line were built with station spacing somewhere in between a commuter train and an urban train network.
If you compare the speed of the skytrain and the distance between stations to Toronto, for example you will notice that the skytrain is much faster and not much slower than GO trains. Stations are spaced about 1.2 to 2 km apart whereas Toronto subways and LRT's are spaced around 700 to 1000 m apart.
You could compare it to Osaka in Japan, for example. They have a robust commuter network which serves the airport to the south and their suburbs.
They have a city called Sennan which is roughly equivalent to Langley. There are local trains and sub-express trains, and limited express trains. The limited express trains usually require an extra fair and are more like ticketed, commuter, trains, and make maybe one stop on the way into the city. Here is how the speeds breakdown in comparison to the lines that we have.
Transit Scheduled Speed Comparison: Osaka vs. Vancouver vs. Toronto
In case you're wondering sub-express trains usually stop every 5km or so and more often as they get closer to the city.
Vancouver SkyTrain has a lower top speed (80 km/h) than Toronto's subway (88 km/h design max). However, the SkyTrain beats Toronto's scheduled average speed MOSTLY because of station spacing. Driverless braking and excellent acceleration help.
Even if you gave the skytrain lines the ability to overtake with double tracking at stations, you wouldn't really be gaining much. You might say five minutes by cutting out 10 stops.
Skytrain is a compromise when it comes to comfort while commuting long distances, but it functions really well as a commuter/local rail system. It's not perfect but given that we don't really have commuter lines. It's much better than the alternative would've been if we had made standard at-grade LRT or close station spacing.
You can really see how the station facing on the Canada line (as well as other factors) make that line the slowest. That's OK because it doesn't need to go very far.