TransLink is starting overnight testing of a fully-automated SkyTrain driverless “brain” system on the Expo and Millennium lines, expected to run about five months into early 2027.
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TransLink says overnight testing of a fully-automated SkyTrain driverless train control system for the Expo and Millennium lines begins this weekend and is expected to last about five months through early 2027.
Testing will be carried out with no passengers aboard, using every type of train model that will operate on the two lines.
TransLink says the work is intended to not disrupt or reduce regular service, and that nearby residents may notice trains at hours when the guideway sections would normally be quiet.
For the five-month testing window, TransLink says Saturdays will run from 1:45 to 5:45 a.m., Sundays from 1:45 to 6:45 a.m., and select Mondays from 12:45 to 4:45 a.m.
To help limit disturbance, TransLink says testing will be moved between different sections of the network and that alarms and announcements will be turned off where possible.
The overnight work is intended to help prepare TransLink’s new Operations Control Centre building, described as including a staffed large control centre and a data centre that will control the driverless trains and other systems.
According to TransLink, during the tests the new facility will progressively assume control of trains so SkyTrain staff can check how it handles everyday operations, maintenance and emergencies.
The control centre is described as the “brain and nerve centre” for the driverless Expo and Millennium lines, replacing an existing facility built in the 1980s.
TransLink says the new $360-million control centre is expected to support the Millennium Line’s Broadway extension opening in late 2027, the Expo Line’s Surrey-Langley extension opening in late 2029, and further extensions and growth over the longer term.
TransLink also says it expects the new centre will improve reliability and help the system accommodate the expanding network.
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