TransLink is coming to Burnaby to update the aging SkyTrain trains - and is dedicating a significant chunk of change to re-track an area that once had them.
Last week, TransLink announced that it will use $37.9 million, $28.5 million of which is derived from the federal Gas Tax Fund, to refurbish aging SkyTrain vehicles from the Millenium and Expo lines.
More than $309,000 of the approved budget cost has gone towards 80 metres of tracks at the Operation and Maintenance Facility Two in Burnaby - which had rails to begin with.
According to Sun Fang, vice president of maintenance for the B.C. Rapid Transit Company, the Burnaby building was owned by the province until 1999.
Then from 1999 to 2004, Bombardier owned the site. It built 60 first generation Mark II SkyTrain vehicles, and installed the tracks to transport the vehicles to a B.C. Rapid Transit Company maintenance facility. Now, TransLink is leasing out the Burnaby facility.
In 2004, the Burnaby facility underwent construction to expand and accommodate the new Mark II vehicles. That's when the rail tracks were taken out by Bombardier.
After 2004, the building sold for $8.2 million and again in 2005 for $13 million, according to Burnaby Coun. Colleen Jordan.
She said that two years ago, the 100,000-square-foot building was being rented for $12 per sq. ft. TransLink spokesperson Jiana Ling said the authority is spending $60,000 a month on the lease.
"In 1999, the site was rezoned to build the Bombardier Centre for Advanced Transit Systems," Jordan told the Burnaby NOW. "The rezoning states that the building is to accommodate offices and the assembly of SkyTrain cars. That was part of the deal, to at least build some of the SkyTrain cars for the Millenium Line here in B.C."
In 2003, council received a rezoning request to change the property from light industry to commercial. Council asked TransLink for a comment, but was told they no longer had any interest in the property.
Jordan noted that while the Evergreen Line vehicles are being built in Mexico, at least some work is being done in Canada.
"I think it just shows how short-sighted (TransLink) is in planning for the future," she added.
However, Fang said TransLink is saving money because the authority is restoring older vehicles - rather than spending an estimated $262 million on new ones. The refurbishment also ensures Mark I vehicles, built in 1986, will last another 15 years.
"With this approval, TransLink leased the (Burnaby) facility that originally built the Mark II vehicles, and installed rail tracks to efficiently transport and refurbish the Mark I trains," Fang said. This will prevent increased life cycle costs, as well as deter degradation in customer service - maintaining service levels and promoting system reliability."
Note: An older version of this story incorrectly stated that the province owned the site from 1999 to 2004, however, it owned the site until 1999. Bombardier owned the site between 1999 and 2004.
