Lougheed Town Centre station

Lougheed Town Centre
SkyTrain station
Location	9755 Lougheed Highway, Burnaby
Coordinates	49°14′54″N 122°53′49″W / 49.24846°N 122.89702°WCoordinates: 49°14′54″N 122°53′49″W / 49.24846°N 122.89702°W
Owned by	BC Ministry of Transportation, TransLink
Platforms	Centre platform operational Side platform under construction
Tracks	2 operational, 1 under construction
Construction
Structure type	Elevated
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Station code	LH
Fare zone	2 (2/3 for bus loop)
History
Opened	August 31, 2002
Traffic
Passengers (2011[1])	28,726
Services
Preceding station   TransLink   Following station Production Way–University toward VCC–Clark Millennium Line Braid toward Waterfront Production Way–University toward VCC–Clark Millennium Line (Evergreen Extension, 2017) Burquitlam toward Lafarge Lake–Douglas

Lougheed Town Centre (sometimes abbreviated as Lougheed) is a station on the Millennium Line, part of the SkyTrain rapid transit system in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia.

Location

The station is located on Lougheed Highway in an elevated structure across Austin Road in Burnaby, and is directly adjacent to Lougheed Town Centre, a mid-size shopping mall, from where it takes its name. A large Korean neighbourhood, referred to colloquially as Korea Town, exists in the area surrounding North Road south of Lougheed Highway.

Services

The station is served by a bus loop with routes including the 97 B-Line, which connects it to Coquitlam Central station. This and other bus connections to Burnaby, New Westminster, Port Moody, and Coquitlam areas make Lougheed station a major transportation hub for the area and one of the busiest stations on the Millennium Line.

Due to the shortage of storage tracks at operation and maintenance centre, some trains are stored overnight on tracks near Lougheed station.^[2] As a result, the station also serves as the starting point for some early morning and terminus for some late-night trains to/from VCC–Clark and Waterfront stations.

Future connections include the Evergreen Extension connecting VCC–Clark and Lafarge Lake–Douglas station in Coquitlam (which will replace the 97 B-Line). The Evergreen Extension is scheduled to begin service in early 2017.^[3]

Evergreen Extension

An unbuilt third platform had been roughed in on the east side of the station during its construction, in anticipation of a future connection for a SkyTrain extension to the Coquitlam. The provincial government subsequently postponed the extension in the early 2000s, and in the interim TransLink decided to use light rail technology for the alignment instead of Bombardier's Advanced Rapid Transit technology (as used on SkyTrain's Expo and Millennium lines), rendering the roughed-in platform and the adjacent switches obsolete. However, the provincial government announced new plans for the line in 2008, including the use of SkyTrain or similar technology, so this third platform will now be used when the line opens. This will allow Millennium Line trains to run seamlessly between VCC–Clark and Lafarge Lake–Douglas station.

Construction began in mid-2012; the opening of the Evergreen Extension is planned for early 2017. At the start of the Evergreen Extension's operation, the Millennium Line route will no longer interline with the Expo Line between Columbia and Waterfront nor will it serve Braid or Sapperton. Instead, the Expo Line will branch at Columbia toward Sapperton, then Braid, and interline with the Millennium Line between this station and Production Way–University.

Station information

Station layout

S	Street (West)	Austin Avenue entrance Ticket vending machines, fare gates
C	Concourse	Austin Avenue entrance only; Walkway access to mall
T	Trains
	Side platform, Doors will open on the left
	Platform 3 (Opens 2017)	■ Evergreen Extension (Millennium Line) towards Lafarge Lake–Douglas (Burquitlam) →
	Platform 2	← ■ Millennium Line towards VCC–Clark (Production Way–University), ← ■ Expo Line towards Production Way–University (Terminus; 2017)
	Island platform, Doors will open on the left
	Platform 1	■ Millennium Line towards Waterfront (Braid; pre-2017) → , ■ Expo Line towards Waterfront (Braid; 2017) →
S	Street (East)	Bus Loop entrance Ticket vending machines, ATM, convenience store, fare gates

Station entrances and connections

Gatineau Place / Bus Loop Entrance is located on the east end of the station, connecting the platform with bus loop at street level with elevators and both up and down escalators. Retail shops are available at this entrance. Bus and HandyDart drop-off areas are located on Gatineau Place, in front of the station plaza. See Lougheed Town Centre Station#Transit exchange for a list of other bus connections.

Austin Avenue Entrance is located on the west end of the station platform. An elevator linking the street, concourse, and platform levels; however, there is no escalator between street and concourse level. Pepsi vending machines are available at concourse level.

• Transit connection is available westbound on Lougheed Highway, near the station entrance:

136 Brentwood Station

N9 Downtown Night Bus

Austin Avenue Mall Access connects the Lougheed Town Centre mall to the concouse level of Austin Avenue entrance with a long walkway through mall parking lot. The walkway is mostly weather protected, with the exception of few pedestrian crossings.

Transit exchange

Lougheed Town Centre station provides an off-street transit exchange in between Gatineau Place and Lougheed Highway. The station is close to the boundary of Burnaby (fare zone 2) and Coquitlam (fare zone 3), and about half of the connecting routes are local services within zone 3. Hence the entire bus loop is being given a common fare zone 2/3.^[4] Bus bay assignments is as follows:^[5]

Bay	Routes
1	97 B-Line Coquitlam Station
2	152 Coquitlam Station (via Mariner) 152 Coquitlam Station (via Chilko) (peak only)
3	151 Coquitlam Station (via Coquitlam Recreation Centre)
4	101 22nd Street Station
5	157 Coquitlam Recreation Centre
6	C24 Port Moody Station
7	110 Metrotown Station 136 Brentwood Station
8	555 Carvolth Exchange (Express via Highway 1 Off-ramp at 156 Street, eastbound)
9	156 Braid Station (via Coquitlam Recreation Centre)
10	C9 New Westminster Station N9 Downtown Night Bus N9 Coquitlam Station Night Bus

References

1. "2011 SkyTrain Station Counts". TransLink. Retrieved January 2013.
2. "Specific Project Approval - SkyTrain OMC Expansion Phase 2". Retrieved December 2011.
3. "Evergreen Line RFP released" (PDF). Government of British Columbia. November 2011.
4. Fare Zone Map Details
5. Map of Lougheed Town Centre Station

External links

Media related to Lougheed Town Centre Station at Wikimedia Commons