At a Monday night meeting, commissioners of Vancouver’s Parks and Recreation department, all, a board, announced that the Stanley Park train will keep on chugging.
For July and August, the Vancouver parks board says the train is on track to run from Wednesday to Sunday — as opposed to its usual schedule of weekends only.
Following a “short downtime” in September, the board says the train will come back to life as the annual Halloween Ghost Train experience in October.
Board staff predicted that the train’s capacity will exceed 2023 levels but will also remain below historical levels.
By the end of the year, the board says three locomotives will be pulling 10 carriages — two of which will be partially or fully accessible to all riders — which is only a few stops behind the capacity the train achieved prior to closing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Plans and parts for new carriage frames and mechanical refurbishments are reportedly underway this month.
Following a full risk assessment near the end of the year, the board says the train is the little engine that could be converted into an electric vehicle in the near future.