The Evergreen Line is a planned extension to the SkyTrain system in Metro Vancouver. Rather than using another technology, like the Canada Line, the Evergreen Line will make use of Bombardier’s Advanced Rapid Transit technology, which already is in place on the Expo and Millennium Lines. This method was chosen over a light rail system to provide passengers with a smooth ride from Coquitlam City Centre through Port Moody, into Burnaby, a total of 11 km. A trip between Douglas College Station and Lougheed Town Centre Station is expected to take about 13 minutes, or 40 minutes if going all the way to Waterfront Station in Vancouver.
Lougheed Town Centre Station
The proposed line will branch off from the Millennium Line at Lougheed Town Centre Station and run north along North Road. After the Burquitlam Station, the tracks descend into a tunnel along the west side of Clarke Road and exit just east of the Barnet Highway in Port Moody. The Port Moody Station will allow passengers to transfer over to the existing platforms for the West Coast Express. The Ioco Station will be the last at ground level before the tracks return to the elevated guideway and enter the Coquitlam Central Station, which will be another transfer point to local buses and the West Coast Express. The guideway then turns north again to follow Pinetree Way before terminating at the Douglas College Station which is slated to be built on the south side of the campus.
Construction is expected to start in 2010 and finish by 2014. The Provincial and Federal governments have already committed to funding, however TransLink, the regional transportation authority, needs to come up with an additional $400 million required for the project.
