Structure type Elevated Station code LH Opened 31 August 2002 Tracks 3 | Disabled access Yes Fare zone 2 Province British Columbia | |
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Address Burnaby, BC V3J 1S3, Canada Similar | ||
Changes to lougheed town centre station getting ready for the evergreen line
Lougheed Town Centre (sometimes abbreviated as Lougheed) is a station on the SkyTrain rapid transit system in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and was constructed as part of the Millennium Line. A reorganization of SkyTrain service patterns in 2016 brought a branch of the Expo Line over the existing tracks to also serve the station and—from October 22, 2016, until the opening of the Evergreen Extension on December 2 of that same year—the station served as the interim terminus of the new Millennium Line service.
Contents
- Changes to lougheed town centre station getting ready for the evergreen line
- Millennium line skytrain arriving at lougheed town centre station
- Location
- Services
- Evergreen Extension
- Station entrances and connections
- Transit exchange
- References
It is currently one of three stations where transfer between the Expo Line and the Millennium Line is possible. The other two points of transfer are Commercial–Broadway and Production Way–University.
Millennium line skytrain arriving at lougheed town centre station
Location
The station is located on Lougheed Highway in an elevated structure across Austin Road in Burnaby, and is directly adjacent to Lougheed Town Centre, a mid-size shopping mall, from where it takes its name. A large Korean neighbourhood, referred to colloquially as Korea Town, exists in the area surrounding North Road south of Lougheed Highway.
Services
The station is served by a bus loop, and was the terminus for the 97 B-Line, which connected to Coquitlam Central. Other bus connections to Burnaby, New Westminster, Port Moody, and Coquitlam areas make Lougheed station a major transportation hub for the area and one of the busiest stations on the Millennium Line.
On October 22, 2016, Expo Line service commenced at the station, with trains to travelling between Waterfront and Production Way–University.
Evergreen Extension
An unfinished third platform had been roughed in on the east side of the station during its construction, in anticipation of a future connection for a SkyTrain extension to the Coquitlam. The provincial government postponed the extension in the early 2000s, and in the interim TransLink decided to use light rail technology for the alignment instead of Bombardier's Advanced Rapid Transit technology (as used on SkyTrain's Expo and Millennium lines), rendering the roughed-in platform and the adjacent switches obsolete. However, the provincial government announced new plans for the line in 2008, including the use of SkyTrain or similar technology, so this third platform will now be used when the line opens. This will allow Millennium Line trains to run seamlessly between VCC–Clark and Lafarge Lake–Douglas station.
Construction began in mid-2012, and on December 2, 2016, the Evergreen Extension opened. In preparation for the Evergreen Extension, on October 22, 2016, the Millennium Line route no longer interlined with the Expo Line between Columbia and Waterfront, nor served Braid or Sapperton. Instead, the Expo Line now branches at Columbia toward Sapperton, then Braid, and interlines with the Millennium Line between this station and Production Way–University, while Millennium Line (which caused the 97 B-Line to close on December 19, 2016) connects VCC–Clark and Lafarge Lake–Douglas in Coquitlam.
Station entrances and connections
Gatineau Place/Bus Loop Entrance is located on the east end of the station, connecting the platform with bus loop at street level with elevators and both up and down escalators. Retail shops are available at this entrance. Bus and HandyDart drop-off areas are located on Gatineau Place, in front of the station plaza. See Lougheed Town Centre Station#Transit exchange for a list of other bus connections.
Austin Avenue Entrance is located on the west end of the station platform. An elevator linking the street, concourse, and platform levels; however, there is no escalator between street and concourse level. Pepsi vending machines are available at concourse level.
Austin Avenue Mall Access connects the Lougheed Town Centre mall to the concouse level of Austin Avenue entrance with a long walkway through mall parking lot. The walkway is mostly weather protected, with the exception of few pedestrian crossings.
Transit exchange
Lougheed Town Centre station provides an off-street transit exchange in between Gatineau Place and Lougheed Highway. The station is close to the boundary of Burnaby (fare zone 2) and Coquitlam (fare zone 3). Bus bay assignments are as follows: