Sunday 29th January 2017 - Lafarge Lake Douglas Evergreen Extension Skytrain Line

I love catching public transport and when I am in Vancouver make use of their sky train seabus and overhead cable bus  and non overhead cable bus system as much as possible. The good thing about public transport in Vancouver is the tap on tap off system. You only have to remember to tap on and off on the skytrain system but on buses it is just a tap on unlike Sydney where the bus system is a tap on and tap off system - if you forget to tap off it will charge you the full default fare - unfair ? I think so.

A new skytrain line opened just before Christmas linking the existing Millenium Line from Waterfront Station ( where the West Coast Express Seabus and other buses leave from) to Lougheed Town Centre Station which also links the Expo Line ( the original Expo 86 sky train line also from Waterfront Station all via Commercial Drive Station)

The new Evergreen extention skytrain line continues on from Lougheed Town Centre Station to Lafarge Lake Douglas terminus on the existimg Millenium line. It can also be accessed via the Expo line to Production Way (not King George) with a transfer or change at Lougheed Town Centre Station (I am told by locals it takes approximately the same time however I think travelling via the Expo line takes longer due to the extra stations to arrive at Lougheed Town Centre Station and transfer/change)

It was quite a wet day on my last day in Vancouver therefore when I heard the new Evergreen extension line was open I decided it will be my very last excursion. When I hopped on the train I found others had the same idea. Because these are driverless trains you can walk through the connecting carriages to the front of the train and there is a seat facing the window in front. Great for taking videos and photos which others had the same idea of doing.

By the way there is actually nothing to see at Lafarge Lake Douglas terminus - last stop get off or stay on to go back in the direction you came from.

Somewhere along the line there are some smaller malls and also a connection again with the WestCoast Express train which is a separate train line just across the road from one of the stations.

The Evergreen extension line links growing suburbs further east of Vancouver - interesting the they named the first station after Lougheed Town Centre "Burquitlam" (I hope this is the correct spelling or close enough) - which is logical as it is between Burnaby (zone 2) and Coquitlam (zone 3) - we have one called "Paddinghurst" - never heard of the suburb ? - someone made it up for a store name it is between the suburbs of Paddington and Darlinghurst. I dont think "Darlington" was used as it is a real suburb.

I did take some video footage of the new Evergreen extension line but will decide if I will put it on Youtube or not - may need editing.

I took the Expo line going and came back on the Millenium line so technically I did a complete loop between Waterfront Station and Lafarge Lake Douglas. It is a long ride!

I also took the Seabus after that to Lonsdale Quay and transferred onto a bus to Capillano Mall to shop at Walmart. It was getting late time to back to get ready for the long flight home therefore I decided to catch a bus directly back to the city - oops I got on the wrong bus accidently because I was too busy texting my sister - I quickly realised just before the driver pulled out too far from the curb for me to alight the bus - I could have ended up at Grouse Mt instead of Vancouver that night - it would have been a long wet wait for getting back!

Rating : 8/10 - a nice ride out to Lafarge Lake Douglas and back - something to do if you are "broke" as I overheard a few locals describe themselves as or on a wet day. A taste of what the new Metro Sydney driverless train line currently under construction will be like when stage 1 of the line opens in a few years time.