SkyTrain overnight car testing starts Oct. 1 ahead of TransLink control centre

SkyTrain cars are scheduled to run overnight on weekends and some Mondays for approximately five months, starting Oct. 3, as TransLink prepares for what it calls its largest technological upgrade in history. Testing is a critical step toward opening a new Operations Control Centre in 2027. The centre will support network expansions, including the Broadway Subway Extension next year and the Dave Barrett (Surrey Langley) Extension in 2029.

Testing will take place while stations are closed, with no passengers on board. It will rotate among locations, so people living near the Expo and Millennium lines may hear trains overnight, but the same area will not be used every night. TransLink says alarms and announcements will be suspended wherever possible to reduce noise. The agency says testing will be outside regular operating hours, with no customers aboard and no disruption to regular SkyTrain service.

The overnight testing windows are Saturdays from 1:45 to 5:45 a.m., Sundays from 1:45 to 6:45 a.m. and Mondays from 12:45 to 4:45 a.m.

Located in Burnaby, the new 40,000-square-foot control centre is the first expansion of SkyTrain’s operations control space since 1985, despite the network having grown to four times its original size. During testing, the centre will gradually take control of trains and test a range of operations, including regular daily service, routine maintenance and emergency response. Once fully operational in 2027, the facility is expected to enhance the reliability, resilience and capacity of one of Canada’s largest rapid transit networks and support future growth, helping keep more customers moving safely and efficiently across the region for decades.