It’s now the Canada Line: Politicians sound praises of ‘a generational investment’ in transportation
Jonathan Fowlie
Sun
Representatives from all three levels of government gathered at Vancouver International Airport on Friday to announce the new name of the planned Richmond-Airport-Vancouver transit line, and to unveil the design for the 16-station system that is expected to be open by 2009.
Formerly known as the RAV line, the newly-dubbed Canada Line will feature sleek grey trains that will be able to travel at a maximum speed of 80 kilometres per hour and carry up to 334 passengers between Waterfront Station, the airport and Richmond.
“[The Canada Line is] going to serve tremendously when the eyes of the world are on British Columbia when we are hosting the 2010 Olympics,” said Minister of Industry David Emerson.
“[It’s] going to be a critical piece in terms of making sure our transportation system — including the Gateway components that connect North America with Asia — also has an efficient connection into the local community in Vancouver,” added Emerson, also a co-senior minister for British Columbia.
“The world is going to see exactly why Vancouver is the world’s most livable city,” he said.
B.C. Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon, who was also at Friday’s announcement, lauded the project as a “generational investment.”
“One hundred years from now people will still be riding the [Canada Line], still receiving the benefits and we will still be receiving the environmental benefits and sustainability this line represents,” Falcon said.
TransLink chair Doug McCallum added that once it is built, the Canada Line will be a key part of the region’s rapid transit network.
“Adding the Canada Line to our region’s transportation system will open up the road capacity that our ports will put to good use to benefit the entire country,” said McCallum, who lost his mayoral chair in the recent Surrey election.
McCallum added he is happy to see the project finally taking shape.
“It’s been a long process to get it to this point and now it is actually physically being constructed, and it’s on time, on budget and we hope to be able to open it in 2009,” he said. “I think it’s really exciting.”
In his brief address, Vancouver mayor-elect Sam Sullivan acknowledged the construction of the new line will mean “difficulties for our citizens and our businesses,” but said everyone involved will “work hard to make sure we minimize those [disruptions] and to make sure all citizens of our city, and our region, benefit from this wonderful development.”
Officials in charge of the $1.9-billion Canada Line estimate the system will carry about 100,000 passengers each day when it is up and running in 2010.
On Friday, YVR president and CEO Larry Berg further estimated about 20 million people will be using the airport by 2010, and that 3.7 million people are expected to travel to the airport each year using the new transit line.
Unveiled for the first time on Friday, the design for the Canada Line train cars includes features such as driverless operation, air-conditioned interiors and electronic signs to indicate upcoming stations. Twenty of the trains will be supplied by the Rotem Company, a division of the Hyundai Motor Group.
The Canada Line project is being funded jointly by the governments of Canada and B.C., TransLink and the Vancouver International Airport Authority. Once completed, TransLink will own the line and set the fares.
