Owned by BC Transit, TransLink Tracks 2 Structure type Subway Depth 25 m Level 2 | Platforms Split platforms Connections Vancouver City Centre Opened 11 December 1985 Province British Columbia Owners BC Transit, TransLink | |
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Location 655 Seymour Street, Vancouver.
On Granville Mall, Vancouver Address Vancouver, BC V6C 3T3, Canada Connection Vancouver City Centre station Similar Burrard station, Stadium–Chinatown station, Vancouver City Centre station, Waterfront station, VCC–Clark station | ||
Granville is an underground SkyTrain station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, served by the Expo Line. The station is located in the Dunsmuir Tunnel located beneath Downtown Vancouver and opened in 1985.
Contents
The station is named for nearby Granville Street, whose name in turn derives from "Granville", the name of the original settlement that preceded Vancouver prior to its incorporation in 1886. The portion of Granville Street on which this station is located is known as the Granville Mall.
At approximately 25 metres underground, Granville station is the deepest subway station on the Expo Line.
Location
Granville station is located in the heart of the Granville Entertainment District which is known for urban shopping, trendy culture, and nightlife. The station is accessible from the surface via entrances on Granville Street and Seymour Street (both between Georgia and Dunsmuir Streets), and the Dunsmuir entrance between Granville and Seymour. The station can be accessed underground via Pacific Centre mall, through the Downtown Vancouver premises of the Hudson's Bay Company.
The station serves the shopping and entertainment districts along Granville and Robson streets, and the office and shopping complexes of Pacific Centre and Vancouver Centre. The station is also within walking distance of such amenities as Robson Square (home of the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Provincial Court of British Columbia, and a satellite campus of the University of British Columbia), the Orpheum Theatre, Vancouver Library Square, TD Tower, Scotia Tower and the HSBC Canada Building.
On September 22, 2006, elevator access was introduced from Dunsmuir Street with the completion of the neighbouring Hudson on Granville development, and large signs have been added on the platforms to guide handicapped passengers to the newly available elevators. The entrance has separate escalator access to the platform levels independent of the existing station in a similar two up/one down configuration for the longest bank, and a ticket-vending level with a connection to the existing Granville Mall entrance and The Bay/Pacific Centre. There are unoccupied retail spaces within the new station area’s ticket vending lobby and in the passageway to The Bay. The design of the station, its capacity, and connection to Granville Mall make it possible for the original facility to be closed entirely; however, it will remain in full service. The original station area closed only temporarily for lighting upgrades from 23 October 2006 to mid-November.
There is a small retail space standing at the bottom of the long escalator bank in the original station area, where the corridor splits into the westbound and eastbound routes. It is one of the few stores located entirely within a fare paid zone of any SkyTrain station. It held a Shefield & Sons location prior to the summer of 2005; as of 2008, it holds an International News newsstand.
Services
Granville station is one of six SkyTrain subway stations on the Expo Line serving Downtown Vancouver. It connects with many TransLink bus routes, including trolleybus routes on the Granville Mall and suburban bus routes (running on nearby Georgia Street) heading to and from North and West Vancouver. Passengers are able to transfer to the Canada Line (served by Vancouver City Centre station) by walking through Pacific Centre or Vancouver Centre and The Bay department store, although the only direct transfer point is at Waterfront Station.
Design
Like Burrard and King Edward stations, Granville station has a distinctive platform design. The westbound track (to Waterfront station) is stacked above the eastbound track (to King George and Production Way–University stations), with the westbound platform being one level above the eastbound platform.
Granville station is unique in being one of only a few stations having no surface entrance building of its own, independent of any adjacent buildings (Main Street–Science World station is another for example). The station has three entrances: Granville Mall through the Hudson’s Bay Company department store, Seymour Street with direct access to the ticketing platform, and Dunsmuir Street through The Hudson condominium development.