TransLink orders 28 rail cars for SkyTrain

TransLink has ordered 28 new Mark III rail cars from Bombardier for the SkyTrain system, the agency announced late last week.

The order is worth 93 million Canadian dollars, with costs shared among local, provincial and federal governments. The new units will provide additional service and capacity on the SkyTrain's Expo and Millennium lines, including the new Evergreen extension, which opened earlier this month.

Scheduled to start arriving in 2018 and entering service by early 2019, the 28 cars will increase TransLink's fleet to 314 cars.

The purchase is among the first investments outlined in a 10-year plan for transit and transportation in Vancouver, British Columbia, TransLink officials said in a press release.

TransLink's board and the Vancouver-area Mayors' Council late last month approved the CA$2 billion first phase of that plan.