Burrard station

History

Burrard station opened in 1985 and is named for nearby Burrard Street, which in turn is named for Sir Harry Burrard-Neale. Prior to the opening of the Canada Line in 2009, Burrard station was the northern terminus of the 98 B-Line and was served by a number of bus routes that provided service to Vancouver's southern suburbs of Delta, Richmond, Surrey, and White Rock. In 2016, bus service to the eastern suburbs of the Tri-Cities was discontinued when the Millennium Line's Evergreen Extension opened.

In May 2018, preliminary plans were revealed to renovate and expand Burrard station. On July 13, 2021, TransLink announced that it would close the station for two years beginning in early 2022 to allow construction for the rebuild. On March 25, 2022, these plans were abandoned due to rising construction costs.

Structure and design

The structure housing the surface station entrance was designed to resemble Victorian-era British railway stations, with a peaked glass roof. The station was designed by the Austrian architecture firm Architektengruppe U-Bahn.

When originally opened, the station's only underground passage was to the Bentall Centre skyscraper complex. A connection to the Royal Centre complex was constructed some years later, while an anticipated underground passage to the Park Place skyscraper across the street was never built. The construction of a new east entrance to the station, at the southeast corner of the intersection of Burrard and Dunsmuir, was considered as part of upgrades to the station included in TransLink's 10-Year Vision, but the cost of such an addition was higher than expected and TransLink turned to reviewing options to improve the existing entrance.

Like Granville, the station was built inside the Dunsmuir Tunnel and has a distinctive platform design. The inbound track (to Waterfront) is stacked vertically on top of the outbound track (to King George and Production Way–University), with both platforms within the historical single-track tunnel's footprint.

| Image Burrardplatform.jpg | A train arriving at Burrard's outbound platform in 2008 | Burrard Station platforms.jpg | Platform 1, inbound to Waterfront station, in 2019

Services

Burrard station is one of four SkyTrain stations on the Expo Line that serve Downtown Vancouver. It has connections with many TransLink bus routes in Metro Vancouver; these buses serve the city of Vancouver, Burnaby, the city and district of North Vancouver, and West Vancouver.

Station information

Entrances

• Burrard Street entrance: the main entrance for Burrard station, with connections to Royal Centre and Bentall Centre at concourse level. Three escalators are available between platform and concourse level, and 1 up-escalator between concourse and street level. Fare gates are located at inbound platform level for this entrance.
• Burrard Street elevator access : separated from the main entrance at street level and located to the north, closer to the Burrard and Dunsmuir intersection. A small station house accommodates fare gates at street level. At platform level, the access to the elevator is behind a narrow door and a short corridor.

Transit connections

Burrard station provides an on-street transit exchange on Burrard, Dunsmuir, and Thurlow Streets. Bus bay assignments are as follows:

References

References

1. Snyders, Tom. (2002). "Namely Vancouver: A Hidden History of Vancouver Place Names". Arsenal Pulp Press.
2. Chan, Kenneth. (May 1, 2018). "Burrard Station could get new elevator-only secondary entrance with 6 lifts". Daily Hive.
3. Chan, Kenneth. (March 31, 2021). "TransLink planning major redesign and expansion of Burrard Station (RENDERINGS)". Daily Hive.
4. Chan, Kenneth. (Jul 13, 2021). "SkyTrain Burrard Station to close for two years starting in 2022 for expansion". Daily Hive.
5. (Mar 25, 2022). "Plans to upgrade Burrard SkyTrain station shelved due to rising construction costs".
6. Pabillano, Jhenifer. (February 21, 2011). "1982 SkyTrain station concept drawings!". TransLink.
7. "U-Bahn Vancouver". Architektengruppe U-Bahn.
8. Chan, Kenneth. (March 19, 2019). "Relief is coming: First new Canada Line trains to arrive this summer". Daily Hive.
9. (June 2019). "Expo Line Station Review". Translink.
10. (January 2020). "Burrard Station". TransLink.