A 16 km long skytrain track has been announced from Langley to Surrey’s King George Skytrain Station. The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, announced up to $1.3 billion in federal funding toward the Surrey Langley SkyTrain extension project. The Province of British Columbia and its partners will fund the remainder of the costs for the project.
In a press conference on Friday morning at Surrey city Hall, PM Trudeau made the announcement in presence of BC Premiere John Horrigan, Federal Minster of Infrastructure and Communities Catherine Mckenna, BC Transportation and infrastructure minister Rob Fleming. The mayor of Surrey Doug McCallum Mayor of Langley Val van den Broek and CEO of Translink Gigi Chen-Kuo were also present.
The Surrey Langley SkyTrain extension project will support an area with a fast-growing population representing 25 per cent of the population of Metro Vancouver, help improve public transit accessibility for residents and businesses south of the Fraser River, connect more people to housing, employment, and schools, and encourage greater development around SkyTrain stations. The project will also create approximately 3,000 full-time, well-paying middle class jobs.
The Surrey Langley extension will connect growing Surrey neighbourhoods, the Township of Langley, and the City of Langley to Surrey Centre and the regional SkyTrain network. The project includes 16 kilometres on an elevated guideway from King George SkyTrain Station to Langley City Centre along Fraser Highway. It also includes eight stations, three bus exchanges, park and ride spaces, 30 SkyTrain cars, an operations and maintenance centre, and supporting system upgrades. This new transit route will provide residents with an average commute time of 22 minutes, which is more than 25 minutes faster than the current bus route. The proposed extension is projected to serve 62,000 daily riders in 2035 and grow to 71,200 riders in 2050. Approximately 24,000 to 30,000 of these riders are expected to switch to transit from other modes of transportation.