Station code ST Province British Columbia | Disabled access Yes Opened 11 December 1985 Tracks 3 | |
 | ||
Platforms Centre and side platforms Structure type At grade, elevated, and underground Address Vancouver, BC V6B 2L3, Canada Similar Yaletown–Roundhouse station, Nanaimo station, VCC–Clark station, Main Street–Science World stat, Waterfront station | ||
Stadium–Chinatown station (formerly Stadium station) is part of the SkyTrain system in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It serves the Expo Line, at the eastern entrance of the Dunsmuir Tunnel, located beneath Downtown Vancouver. It is one of four stations on the Expo and Millennium Lines currently serving Downtown Vancouver, and is partially elevated with an entrance both above and below street level.
Contents
As its name implies, the station is located near both the Stadium District and Chinatown, specifically at the International Village neighborhood. It is accessible from the surface on two levels: from the "Downtown" level at Dunsmuir Street and Beatty Street, or from the "Stadium" level near the corner of Expo Boulevard and Abbott Street. There is also a "Chinatown/International Village" entrance near Keefer Circle.
History
Stadium station, built in 1985, was named such due to its proximity to the then-new BC Place Stadium (built in 1983). Both the station and the stadium were vital pieces of Vancouver's Expo 86. The "Chinatown" portion of the station's name was added in 2004, after Vancouver City Council felt it would increase tourism to the area and increase awareness to visitors about Vancouver's ever-expanding Chinatown district, just one block away.
During Expo 86, the station served as a transfer point between the main site of the World's Fair and the Canadian Pavilion (now Canada Place), located on Burrard Inlet at Waterfront Station. Transferring between these two stations was free to fair attendees during the World's Fair using special shuttle trains which ran from a third platform at Stadium station (where there was a connection to the monorail serving the main Expo 86 site) to the Canadian Pavilion at Waterfront station. An automated announcement was aired during people's shuttle ride explaining how SkyTrain and automated driverless technology operated. The third platform and track was shut out of revenue use after Expo 86, although in rare cases of extreme crowds from hockey games and concerts, the third-platform may be used. This third track/platform is now used for training purposes, train storage, special event service, and rerouting during rail replacement.
The station was originally constructed with a passageway under Beatty Street to the west in anticipation of future development. When the Amec Building built across Beatty Street did not link to the underground passage, the passage was closed and is currently occupied by the Lost Property Office. The staircase on the west side of Beatty was filled with sand and topped with a concrete sidewalk, so that the passage could be reopened in the future.
Until 1988, the Expo Boulevard/Abbott Street entrance was originally just an open-stair emergency exit. However, with the closing of the entrance tunnel under Beatty Street as well as poor accessibility to Stadium station from False Creek, the emergency exit was redesigned and enclosed, opening up in 1989 as the second point of entrance/exit point to and from the station.
Location and services
The most important destinations near the station are the Rogers Arena and BC Place Stadium because of the home games of the Vancouver Canucks, BC Lions and Vancouver Whitecaps FC and other major events. Following a concert or sporting event at BC Place or Rogers Arena, the passenger volumes are sufficiently large that it is feasible to post TransLink personnel to collect and check fares at this station, in contrast to the proof-of-payment system normally in force on the SkyTrain.
The Plaza of Nations dock for False Creek Ferries and The Aquabus is located a few blocks to the south west.
The lost property office of TransLink is in this station.
Chinatown is located north east of the intersection of Taylor and Keefer. The station entrance closest to Chinatown is marked by traditional Chinese characters in addition to English. The sign reads: "Stadium - Chinatown 體育館／華埠（唐人街）". This makes the station the only station on the system to be officially marked in Chinese.
International Village Shopping Centre (mistakenly called "Tinseltown" after the name of the movie theatre on the third floor) and the Chinatown location of T & T Supermarket are located on the intersection of Abbott and Keefer.
The station is located next to the Downtown Vancouver location of Costco.
The Downtown Vancouver location of Vancouver Community College is 2 blocks away from the station.
The station's mezzanine level contains a Waves Coffee shop and the "Stadium Smoke Shoppe"—a small convenience store outlet that opened in 1986 as part of a retail programme initially set up with the introduction of SkyTrain.