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12/6/2018
Rail News: Passenger Rail
TransLink to install better information signs, speakers at 33 stations
TransLink last week announced plans to launch a program aimed at replacing information displays, improving sound on platforms and enhancing safety measures at 33 SkyTrain stations along the Expo and Millennium lines.
Over the next 18 months, the agency expects to replace existing 1980s-era information displays and audio systems with modern equipment designed to enable riders to learn when the next train is arriving and more clearly hear in-station announcements. The program also calls for installing new cameras to provide more visibility to guideways and hasten the determination of alarms that are triggered on guideways.
Overall, Translink plans to install 140 "next train" and 140 new information signs; 1,000 new speakers along the Millennium Line, and 320 speakers in stations and at designated entrances; and 1,200 CCTV platform cameras and 265 guideway cameras.
Improvements will roll out station by station beginning with the Edmonds and Lougheed stations. The upgrades will be funded via the Public Transit Infrastructure Fund, through which the Canadian government provides half, the province of British Columbia covers a third and TransLink contributes 17 percent of the fund.
“This is a part of our plan to improve the customer experience. We’ve been listening to our customers and we know they rely on us to receive accurate and timely information,” said TransLink Chief Executive Officer Kevin Desmond in a press release.
Meanwhile, Surrey city officials last month voted to suspend the request for qualifications process for the Surrey-Newton-Guildford light-rail transit project. The city now awaits direction from TransLink and the Mayors’ Council. Surrey, the township of Langley, council and TransLink are working to advance the best transit option for the region.