Fraser River Line
The Fraser River Line is one of the six lines of the Greater Vancouver Metro operated by the BC Hydro Railway on behalf of the Greater Vancouver Transit Authority.
The Fraser River Line connects to the Olympic Line at UBC Centre Station, to the Central Line at New Westminster Station, and to the Evergreen Line at Columbia Station. Between Marine Drive-70th Avenue Station and Marpole Station it shares track with the Expo Line.
History[edit]
The Fraser River Line was originally opened in 1910 by the British Columbia Electric Railway (BCER) as the Westminster–Eburne Line from New Westminster to Marpole (then called Eburne), South Vancouver, for freight and interurban service. Connecting at Marpole to the BCER's Lulu Island Line and with the Central Park Line in New Westminster, the opening of the new line creating a triangular network of interurban and freight service linking the municipalities of Vancouver, South Vancouver, Richmond, and New Westminster. Originally electrified at 1500V DC, in 1934 it was converted to 25kV 60Hz AC operation, and the new 1000 series multiple-unit trainsets were introduced to replace the old wooden-bodied interurban cars, the newest of which were twenty years old at the time. The line remained an important transportation artery through the 1970s.
Plans for the construction in several phases of the Greater Vancouver Metro (GVM) system were finalised by a joint commission of the Dominion government, the Greater Vancouver Transit Authority, and the BC Hydro Railway in 1977, with the first phase involving the conversion of the Lulu Island Line and the Westminster–Eburne Line rights-of-way from regular at-grade railway lines to dedicated lines without road crossings, using a mix of ground-level, underground, or elevated guideways as appropriate. As part of the realisation of the programme's first phase, freight service along the Westminster–Eburne Line was permanently discontinued in 1984, and then, just prior to the commencement of reconstruction work, passenger trains were suspended and replaced by a substitute bus service for the duration of work.
The new Fraser River Line follows the right-of-way of the Westminster–Eburne Line between Marpole and Nelson; from there to New Westminster, it runs along an elevated guideway following a different route. Work on this section was completed in three years, becoming the second GVM line to be opened to the public, with a ceremony conducted by Prime Minister Grace McCarthy being held at New Westminster Station on 4 April 1987. Work on two extensions, one from Marine Drive-70th Avenue Station on the Expo Line to the University of British Columbia, which had been foreseen as a future extension, and one from New Westminster to Liverpool, envisioned as part of the first phase of GVM construction, began in late 1992. The short Liverpool extension was opened in July 1994, whilst the much longer UBC extension, running underground for almost its entire length, was opened in August 1995, with trains of the Expo, Airport, and Fraser River Lines sharing the section between Marine Drive-70th Avenue and Marpole Stations.
Five miles of the original line remain in service: the four miles from Greenall to the BC Hydro Railway's classification yard and shops at Trapp Yard as the Westminster–Eburne Line, and one mile from Trapp Yard to Hydro's New Westminster freight yard, shared by the Central Park Line, the Liverpool Line and the Queensborough Line.
Route[edit]
From UBC Centre to Milepost 6.6 just west of Marine Drive-70th Avenue Station the line is underground, and from that point to Milepost 13.3, west of Nelson Station, the line is at ground level. From Milepost 13.3 it moves to an elevated guideway, on which it remains for a short distance past New Westminster Station before returning underground. Columbia Station is itself underground; immediately east of there the line turns onto a bridge across the Fraser River; this bridge becomes an elevated guideway for the remainder of the line to Liverpool Station.
| Stop name | Distance (miles) |
GVTA rail connections | Bus connections | Other connections | Nearby places of note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UBC Centre | 0.0 | ● GVM Olympic Line | 4 Powell 9 Boundary 14 Hastings 25 Brentwood Stn 33 Slocan-29th Avenue Stn 41 Joyce-Collingwood Stn 49 Metrotown Stn 68 Wesbrook Village 84 VCC-Clark Stn 99 Commercial-Broadway Stn O17 Downtown Owl |
UBC Aquatic Centre UBC Student Union Building War Memorial Gymnasium | |
| UBC Hospital | 0.4 | 25 Brentwood Stn/UBC 33 Slocan-29th Avenue Stn/UBC 49 Metrotown Stn/UBC |
Life Sciences Institute UBC Hospital | ||
| Thunderbird | 0.9 | 25 Brentwood Stn/UBC 33 Slocan-29th Avenue Stn/UBC 41 Joyce-Collingwood Stn/UBC 49 Metrotown Stn/UBC |
Thunderbird Stadium (Kitsilano FC) | ||
| Wesbrook Mall-TRIUMF | 1.8 | 49 Metrotown Station/Dunbar Loop/UBC | National Research Council TRIUMF | ||
| Musqueam-Dunbar | 4.1 | 7 Nanaimo Stn | Musqueam Park Point Grey Golf Club | ||
| Carnarvon-Southlands | 4.9 | none | Marine Drive Golf Club Southlands Riding Club | ||
| Marine Drive-70th Avenue | 6.9 | ● GVM Expo Line | none | Fraser River Park | |
| Marpole | 7.4 | ● GVM Expo Line | 10 Downtown/Granville 100 Connaught Heights Stn |
||
| Cambie | 8.2 | 3 Downtown 10 Granville 15 Vancouver City Centre 17 Downtown 100 Connaught Heights Stn/Marpole Stn O8 Downtown/Fraser Owl O15 Downtown Owl O20 Downtown/Victoria Owl |
Marine Gateway | ||
| Fraser | 9.3 | 8 Downtown O8 Downtown Owl |
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| Knight | 10.0 | 22 Downtown 100 Connaught Heights Stn/Marpole Stn 405 Five Road/Cambie 407 Gilbert/Bridgeport Station O20 Downtown/Victoria Owl |
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| Victoria | 10.5 | 20 Downtown O20 Downtown Owl |
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| Gladstone | 11.0 | 29 Slocan-29th Avenue Stn | Fraserview Golf Course Riverfront Park | ||
| Dominion Mills | 11.7 | 24 King Edward Stn 31 Metrotown Stn |
Kerr Street Pier Kinross Ravine Park | ||
| Boundary | 12.5 | 116 Middlegate Stn/Metrotown Stn | |||
| Nelson | 13.6 | 116 Middlegate Stn/Metrotown Stn | Riverway Golf Course | ||
| Marine Way | 14.7 | 100 Connaught Heights Stn/Marpole Stn 116 Middlegate Stn/Metrotown Stn 148 Royal Oak Stn/Middlegate Stn |
Byrne Creek Park Marine Way Market | ||
| Connaught Heights | 16.0 | 100 Marpole Stn 101 Lougheed Town Centre 104 Annacis Island 120 Vancouver City Centre/Queensborough 128 Sapperton-Royal Columbian Stn 155 Sapperton-Royal Columbian Stn 340 Scottsdale Exchange 388 Carvolth Exchange 410 Minoru-Brighouse Stn 418 Kingswood |
Connaught Heights Elementary School Grimston Park (Connaught Heights FC) Schara Tzedeck Cemetery | ||
| New Westminster | 17.8 | ● GVM Central Line | 102 Fraserview 105 Uptown 106 Middlegate Stn 108 Eighth Ave 109 Lougheed Town Centre 112 Middlegate Stn 123 Brentwood Stn 321 Newton-King George Stn O19 Downtown/Surrey Centre Owl |
Anvil Centre Shops at New West Quayside Park Westminster Pier Park Westminster Quay | |
| Columbia | 18.2 | ● GVM Evergreen Line | 103 Quayside/Victoria Hill 105 Uptown/New Westminster Stn 109 New Westminster Stn/Lougheed Town Centre 321 Newton-King George Stn/New Westminster Stn O19 Downtown/Surrey Centre Owl |
Holy Trinity Cathedral New Westminster Police Department New Westminster Water Aerodrome St John Ambulance Westminster Pier Park | |
| Liverpool | 19.6 | ● Interurban | 312 Scottsdale Exchange 319 Newton-King George Stn 321 Newton-King George Stn/New Westminster Stn 327 White Rock Centre 330 Surrey Centre 332 Guildford Exchange 371 Surrey Centre 391 Scottsdale Exchange 394 White Rock Express 502 Langley Prairie Stn 640 Ladner Exchange 690 Boundary Bay Express O19 Downtown/Surrey Centre |
national rail (BCR, W&BC) |
North Surrey Ice Complex (Liverpool Dynamo-VLW) |