The Great SkyTrain upgrade (potential)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D2CXdZ_4Ro 

Unfortunatly, the first 2 Skytrain lines were designed to only have 80m stations and trains. The 3rd line to YVR and Richmond was only designed to have 50m stations. In contrast, the Montreal Metro has stations long enough to accomodate 152.4m long trains. Thus, the greatest mistake was to not enable the Skytrain to eventually become a very high capacity train system. Combine that with mostly narrow bridges and roads in Greater Vancouver and you have the epitome of congestive urban planning. 

At least by late 2025 some of the new 5 car trains were out, along with some of the old 6 car little box trains on the 1st line. The 2nd and 3rd lines are still running 2 car joke trains, but that symbolically fits right in with the, KEEP BC SMALL AND BACKWARDS mentality. 

A proper big city long-term plan would have been to allow for 10 car trains, with at least 5-6 car trains at the start when each line opened.

Early nightly closures at Oakridge-41st Avenue SkyTrain station for construction extended by two months

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/oakridge-41st-avenue-skytrain-station-early-closure-2026 

While some improvements are possible with the very short Canada+Line stations, there was a lack of vision to allow for enough level clearance to be able to double the length of the stations.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/skytrain-oakridge-41st-avenue-station-upgrade-design-renderings 

Indeed, the stations should have been at least 100m long, but only can be 50m. So instead of eventually having 5 car trains, only 2.5 car trains will be the maximum. WTH? 

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=YVR-Canada+Line

SkyTrain's Canada Line service disruption

(service disruption ends after 14 hours) https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/skytrain-canada-line-service-disruptions-january-14-2026 

For a rapid transit line that opened in 2009, on the surface, it sure wasn't designed to be an efficient high capacity line for the future. It's still just a 2 car joke of a train. Fortunately, most real cities around the world planned for not only 6 car trains, but even 8-10 car trains. 

Unfortunatly, Vancouver has been hit very hard with a multigenerational agenda of continually imposed small scale infrastructure. Vancouver has water on 3 sides, as its on a peninsula. Since the powers that be couldn't build a Boundary+Road moat or trench, the next best thing was to symbolically show the reluctance to build proper big city size infrastructure. This stunted approach to things is about symbolically holding the scale of the city back for as long as possible. 

Despite backwards Vancouver not being able to apply a castle-moat-and-drawbridge control system, the next best thing was to symbolically keep things smaller than what normal or proper big cities allow. 

Here are some of the best examples of holding the size of things back. The 3 lane joke that is the Lions+Gate+Bridge has never had a rapid transit rail tunnel and no express bus tunnel next to it. Especially, no 6 lane highway tunnel. It's a classic BC bottleneck-chokepoint, by design.

From a 3 lane joke of a bridge to a two car Canada+Line joke of a train. It met the symbolic requirement to be shorter than the LRT in Edmonton, the C Train in Calgary and the trains in Seattle and Portland. 

The+Post+building+complex could have been Vancouver's first 50 story office tower, it's not even 25 floors. It would be impressive if it were in Victoria, Kelowna, Kamloops or Prince George. That's the unfortunate thing about Vancouver, so much is done to only be impressive to small cities or towns.  

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=The+small+Westin+Bayshore+Hotel+in+Vancouver

Things have been kept so small in Vancouver throughout its history, that any big city stuff might seem overwhelming. There has been an unofficial KEEP THEM OUT mentality, but since the city cant have checkpoints, building things small symbolically demonstrates the perpetual reluctance to not allow a big city in backwater BC. 

Since Vancouver can't control Burnaby and can't stop Surrey from eventually becoming the biggest city in BC, they are able to build things on a larger scale than Vancouver.

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=YVR-Canada+Line

Original cars on SkyTrain's Canada Line set to be refurbished

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/skytrain-canada-line-original-trains-refurbishment 

Perhaps allowing for enough future station clearance to accommodate 10 car trains would require too much forward thinking in backwards BC. However, this line should have been started with at least 5 car trains. Unfortunatly, the very short stations were only designed to accommodate 2.5 car trains. As of 2026, only 2 car joke trains are still being run.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SkyTrain_(Vancouver)#Canada_Line It's one thing to say that having very short stations can save on construction costs, but to not allow for significant future expansion defeats the purpose. Someone clearly didn't want the Canada_Line to eventually have proper, long big city trains. 

There still is hope that this Half-A$$ED, small-scale line can become a little closer to that of a proper big city train, someday. 

Feb 12, 2020 https://www.richmond-news.com/local-news/canada-line-continues-to-break-records-translink-3116818 "On an average weekday last year, the Canada Line had an average of 150,000 boardings, continuing to “outperform projections,” according to TransLink."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Line "During the 17 days of the 2010 Winter Olympics, the line carried an average of 228,190 passengers per day."

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=YVR-Canada+Line

Metro Vancouver's SkyTrain transit system turns 40

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeSQtHusn1A  

The history of SkyTrain 1985-2025 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEt76BgRP5E 

Expo Line Extension (Surrey - Langley) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CavX1TWYUsE 

Surrey Langley Skytrain Construction https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRARdwNIbls 

17 years and waiting for UBC SkyTrain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIEhFrTuqkc  

YVR-Skytrain: Canada Line https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvwFeKtbyxU

Vancouver International Airport gains 24-hour public transit coverage as NightBus expansion fills SkyTrain overnight gap

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/n10-yvr-downtown-nightbus-vancouver-airport-translink

Skytrain YVR-Canada Line ride

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqqfSzQpoFc

How air cargo is driving Vancouver International Airport's evolution and growth beyond passenger travel

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-international-airport-yvr-cargo-freight 

Unfortunatly, the antigrowth crowd will always try to thwart the improvement and expansion of infrastructure. 

No help for Broadway corridor businesses suffering from subway construction

 https://globalnews.ca/video/11571149/no-help-for-broadway-corridor-businesses-suffering-from-subway-construction/ 

If the Covid control shutdown wasn't bad enough, this is like a push over the edge.

https://vancouversun.com/business/borderline-bankruptcy-vancouver-skytrain-construction-hits-broadway-shops-hard

https://globalnews.ca/news/9567913/business-group-calls-for-support-shops-shutter-broadway-construction/ 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/broadway-subway-won-t-be-cut-and-cover-mayor-pledges-1.2850400 For all the trouble and B$ of constructiong the YVR-Canada Line, the stations should have been long enough to accommodate at least 5 car trains. Unfortunatly, the BC Mind Virus made sure that the stations were only designed to eventually accommodate 2.5 car trains.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/cambie-street-businesses-canada-line-lawsuit-1.4812624 

https://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Transportation/2009/05/27/CambieWins/

Airport Rail Links

The Transit Every Airport Needs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YeVZVluQWI&t=247s 

https://www.upexpress.com/en/about-up/things-are-looking-up Its only a two and three car train, when it should be between 4-6 cars, depending upon the time of day. https://www.torontopearson.com/en/transportation-and-parking/up-express

At least it's not a perpetual 2 car train joke that is the YVR-Canada Line. The eventual airport REM line should consist of 4 car trains, but the entire REM should eventually have 6 car trains.

Somehow, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane & Perth all are able to have longer trains to the airport. The 10 car SFO-BART trains are pretty cool.

A Richmond encampment under the Oak Street bridge

 https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2025/11/19/growing-calls-to-clear-richmond-encampment 

Of course any neighborhood will be concerned when a bunch of people are living under a bridge and wandering around.

Living under a bridge is hardly affordable housing. There needs to be proper secure housing with plenty of security and staff to help people who are stuck living outside. 

That bridge is so narrow and inadequate. 

SW-Vancouver needs a proper transportation upgrade. Granville Street should be extended across the Fraser River on a parallel bridge to the Oak Street Bridge (OSB). Then, the 2 bridges could provide 4 general lanes each way. Plus, another 4-lane parallel bridge to accommodate 2 BRT lanes and 2 HOV lanes. 

Or, a totally built a new version of the Oak+St+Bridge that could provide 6 lanes northbound. Then, a Granville Street extension could provide 6 southbound lanes onto a new OSB. Four general lanes each way, plus a rapid bus lane each way & 1 HOV lane each way. 

For the most part, the Oak+Street-Granville+Street+Corridor has 12 lanes. A yellow paint strip designates 3 lanes each way. Instead, Oak could have 6 northbound lanes and Granville could have 6 southbound lanes. The 5th & 6th lanes could be for the Oak & Granville BRT lane & HOV lane on complete one way streets.

Unfortunately, the OSB remains as a 4 lane traffic bottleneck or chokepoint. 

The 2009 Canada (embarrassment) Line is still only using 2 car trains in 2025. A proper big city YVR-Canada Line should have been started with 5 car trains. Unfortunately, this joke of a train is only designed to ultimately run a 2.5 car train, someday. 

This stunted infrastructure approach is so absurd. Transportation planning in the most populated parts of BC is so inadequate, but its all part of backwards BC symbolism. The symbolism is all about showing a thwarted or watered down a city can be. Narrow bridges and short trains are some of the best ways to increase congestion and inefficiency in backwater BC.

The LA Metro's Airport Station is a Huge Success!

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TsUH1tmmBM , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAX/Metro_Transit_Center

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_International_Airport#Metro_Rail_and_the_LAX_Automated_People_Mover

https://www.flylax.com , https://www.flylax.com/lax-traffic-and-ground-transportation 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAX_Consolidated_Rent-A-Car_Facility 

Although not as grand as a 10 car BART train, at least LA never opted to have a 2 car joke of an airport train like YVR has.  

Evolution of the Los Angeles Metro 1900-2028 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH9toJw6-k8

The Tsawwassen, Delta Dilemma

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/tsawwassen-town-centre-redevelopment-delta-housing-supply-rejection 

Unfortunatly, there are some serious examples of poor transportation planning in backwards BC. There never seemed to be a multistage plan to gradually have at least 5 car trains running between YVR and the BC Ferry terminal. Indeed, the YVR-Canada Line has stations that are only designed to eventually accomodate a 2.5 car train, not 5 cars. Plus, no train tunnel or bridge into Delta. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberts_Bank_Superport

https://www.delta-optimist.com/local-news/competing-proposals-for-deltaport-expansion-still-not-over-11215614 

https://www.portvancouver.com/project/deltaport-truck-staging-facility 

Despite being on the same ocean, but half a world away, the Port_of_Brisbane has much better highway and freight railway infrastructure in place. 

While the YVR Line or the Canada (Embarrassment) Line only runs trains that are a 2 car joke, Brisbane actually has a proper big city Airport_railway_line with longer trains. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airport_railway_line,_Brisbane#Criticism While long trains are better for capacity, a frequent number of trains per hour is also important.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_Airport_railway_station,_Brisbane  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brisbane_Airport#Rail  

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Airtrain_NGR_Indigenous.jpg

Fortunately, Queensland was never stunted by anything like a BC Mind Virus (BCMV).

Broadway Subway Construction as of November 2025

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uot7oIA9-ZE The station platforms will be 80m, which can only accomodate a 5 car train.

Unfortunatly, even if this segment had 500' or 152.4m long stations like the Montreal Metro, the rest of the first 2 lines only have 80m stations. Thus, 80m is only about 52% of the length of a Montreal Metro station, which can accomodate 9 car trains. It's taken until 2025 for the SkyTrain to gradually start running 5 car trains. In theory, if two Vancouver 80m trains run at twice the frequency as one 152m Montreal Metro train, a similar capacity could be attained. 

However, in the long run, it would have been much more cost effective to have the first 2 SkyTrain lines stations already roughed out to 152m, or a least have enough level clearance to eventually become twice the length. But that's what a proper big city would do, something that Vancouver is against.   

Even as an initial cost saving measure, the YVR-Canada Line should have opened with 100m stations, instead of the inadequate 50m joke. Then it could immediately accomodate 5 car trains. The station platforms should have had enough level clearance to eventually accommodate a 160m long train consisting of 8 cars reaching both ferry terminals. Of course there seems to be no plan to connect YVR to both ferry terminals.

Its very difficult for BC cities to allow proper big city size infrastructure, because that would symbolize a pro growth initiative. Since the world is mostly composed of non-white people, a slow growth agenda became a clever way to symbolically demonstrate a refusal to build big. BC is multicultural, but Canada has less than 1% of the worlds population. Even in the 2020s, BC still retains some of its colonial outpost mentality. Just keep things small and backwards and try to remain a backwater for as long as possible. 

Airports and Tall Buildings

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_City_Airport

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e0/London_City_Airport_Zwart.jpg/960px-London_City_Airport_Zwart.jpg 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/58/BACF_departure_London_city_Airport.JPG/960px-BACF_departure_London_city_Airport.JPG 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canary_Wharf#Tallest_buildings Tall buildings there are no problem, despite the airport being relatively close. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle-Tacoma_International_Airport Prevented Seattle from having a 1000 foot tall office tower in the 1980s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_International_Airport Runways don't conflict with the tallest buildings in Boston.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmonton_City_Centre_Airport#Closure Once closed, Edmonton could eventually plan for the tallest building in Alberta.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Diego_International_Airport Untill its ever closed, buildings are kept short, because of its location. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Reid_International_Airport Tall buildings are relativly close to a runway.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancouver_International_Airport Unlike, London and LV, Richmond is forced to have very short buildings, because of YVR.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richmond,_British_Columbia

Over half of all Metro Vancouver homes projected to be condos by 2051

 https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/metro-vancouver-housing-growth-forecast-condos 

For several decades, trains, bridges and buildings had to be half the size of what real cities allow. Vancouver and especially the Greater Vancouver Region couldn't build a huge wall, so the next best thing was to heavily impose a symbolic resistance to build big. Thus, by watering the scale of almost everything down by imposing a series of overlapping restrictions, Vancouver & BC remained stunted. 

Then, things started to slowly change going into the 21st century. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Wall_Centre Opened in 2001. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogers_Tower 2004  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Georgia_(Vancouver) 2012 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Vancouver 

While restrictive Vancouver started to allow some taller buildings, its still behind what many other cities permit. Especially that of what's in Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinnacle_One_Yonge Toronto 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainier_Square_Tower Seattle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stantec_Tower Edmonton 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telus_Sky Calgary

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_sur_le_Parc Montreal

Since Burnaby, Coquitlam & Surrey aren't under Vancouvers imposed restrictions, they can build taller. Eventually, Vancouver will have to allow taller residential buildings, but its as if there is a strong mind virus determined to hold the scale of everything back. 

Lions+Gate+Bridge Still, a 3 lane crossing with no plans for a bus, train & truck tunnel. Australia has no problem building tunnels near bridges.

YVR-Canada-Line Still, a 2 car train of a joke, when several cities will have 6, 8 or 10 car trains. 

Expect noise, vibration during upcoming Massey Tunnel replacement

 https://www.delta-optimist.com/local-news/expect-noise-vibration-during-upcoming-massey-tunnel-replacement-11436394 This B$ should have been done a few decades ago.

A 10 lane bridge with 2 bus lanes, 2 HOV lanes & 2 wide shoulder-emergency lanes, plus at least 3 general lanes each way, could have been a nice wide crossing. Some 12 lanes, including the 2 emergency lanes. Plus, a provision for at least 2 LRT tracks. 

Instead, it's a 3 lane each way tunnel with the 4th being a bus lane. No HOV lanes and no emergency lanes & especially, no train tube section. 

So, just like the YVR-Canada (embarrassment) Line, this new 8 lane tunnel will eventually require some major upgrades. 

Eventually, a YVR-Canada Line bridge or tunnel will have to be built so that someday, trains can go between the airport and the ferry terminal. Such a train crossing should be parallel to the new highway tunnel. A new train tunnel or bridge should have at least 3 tracks, 2 rapid bus lanes and 2 bike lanes and sidewalks. Then the bus lanes in the highway tunnel could become HOV lanes. 

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Massey+Tunnel+replacement 

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Richmond+and+Delta

Vancouver SkyTrain Front Window View - Canada Line to (YVR) Airport

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxTEBfxYH0g 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlFzR5_3RWM WC Express

Why the SkyTrain and DLR are So Unique

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrMISsHZ85s  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Docklands_Light_Railway , https://tfl.gov.uk/maps/track/dlr

The DLR could have been built better right from the start so that more capacity and efficiency were in place since its first day. It was never meant to rival any section of a tube line in capacity per KM. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Docklands_Light_Railway_rolling_stock 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SkyTrain_(Vancouver)

While the first 2 Skytrain lines only have 80 m stations which are slightly more than half the length of a Montreal Metro train station, there should have been enough level station clearance to eventually double the length of each station. The 3rd line to YVR only has a level station clearance of 50 m, vs. the 152.4 m Montreal Metro stations. The YVR-Canada-Line should have had enough level station clearance to eventually become 160 m in length. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SkyTrain_(Vancouver)#Rolling_stock

Brisbane Airport Railway Line

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airport_railway_line,_Brisbane

 https://www.airtrain.com.au/travel-info/brisbane-airport

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Airtrain_NGR_Indigenous.jpg Being from backwards Vancouver, its sometimes difficult to comprehend the scale of how several cities are able to have longer trains on their airport+line. Then I'm always reminded, that its because they aren't hindered by anything like the Vancouver MV or the BC Mind Virus (BCMV).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brisbane_Airport#Rail

https://www.airtrain.com.au/catch-airtrain-to/brisbane-city/

https://www.airtrain.com.au/travel-info/frequency-and-hours/

https://www.airtrain.com.au/travel-info/network-map/

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=Brisbane+Airport+Railway+Line 

https://jfdatalinks.blogspot.com/search?q=YVR-Canada-Line