Finalized designs of the eight new multi-coloured stations on Surrey-Langley SkyTrain

For one final time, the public will have the opportunity to provide input on the detailed design of each of the eight stations that will be built on the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension.

All of the station designs have now seen some relatively small revisions focusing on varying colours, materials, and texture patterns. This follows the input received from the previous public consultation held in June 2024, after the provincial government selected the station construction contractors and design firms for the project.

The current public consultation period on the revised detailed design of the stations began on November 28 and will conclude on December 11, 2024. Only very minor changes to the concepts are expected moving forward.

According to the provincial government’s project team, feedback from the previous consultation asked for more varying station-specific designs that would reflect each station area’s unique neighbourhood character.

Glass panels near elevators and along the platform waiting area will now have embedded colour — visible from both passengers inside the train and on the platform to enhance the passenger arrival experience, including an informal form of recognizable wayfinding for frequent riders.

The selected colour for the glass panels of each station are based on the neighbourhood’s local landscape, history, and surroundings.

From west to east along the 16-km-long extension of the Expo Line along Fraser Highway, Green Timbers Station (at 140th Street) will have light green-coloured glass as a nod to its adjacency next to Green Timbers Urban Forest Park.

152 Street Station will have pink and purple hues for the cherry blossom trees of the station, while Fleetwood Station (at 160th Street) will be red to honour the neighbourhood’s namesake of World War I veteran Lance Corporal Thomas Fleetwood, with red symbolizing the poppy.

Bakerview-166 Street Station will be blue to reflect the mountain peak snow and ice vistas of this station’s views of Mount Baker, Hillcrest-184 Street Station will be golden yellow to symbolize the crops and honey found in this agricultural area near the Serpentine River Valley, Clayton Street (at 190 Street) will be blue/green as a reference to the feathers of the area’s waterfowl, ponds, and creeks, and Willowbrook Station (at 196th Street) will be dark/moss green to represent the area’s willow trees and “family, human connection, and growth.”

The Expo Line’s new easternmost terminus of Langley City Centre Station (at 203rd Street) will have barn/maroon red as its colour, inspired by the nearby location of the historic BC Electric Railway stop.

These colour selections will be finalized following the current public consultation.

Other varying elements in the station design focus on providing different shades, textures, and layouts for the exterior concrete wall patterns, as well as unique paving patterns for each station’s public plaza.

As previously established in the initial station concepts, the key structural distinguishing elements of the architectural designs centre on the unique weather-protective canopy for each station’s main entrance.

There will also be a public art opportunity at each of the eight stations, with the installation either being a general/public art piece or an Indigenous cultural recognition public art piece. The artist budget for each public art piece is $250,000, with a total of $2 million for the SkyTrain extension’s entire public art program.

The availability of public washrooms was brought up as a desired feature during the June 2024 public consultation. In response, the project team states TransLink is exploring the possibility of opening public washrooms at Bakerview-166 Street Station and Langley City Centre Station, with the other six stations featuring locked washrooms located within the fare paid zone of each station, which are only accessible with SkyTrain attendant assistance — similar to the current washroom access at other existing stations.

The public also previously expressed interest in the project establishing new park-and-ride facilities next to the future stations. Instead, according to the project team, TransLink will focus on reconfiguring local bus routes to reach the new stations. The City of Surrey has plans to provide over 300 park-and-ride vehicle parking stalls within a five-to-seven-minute walk of a station, including Green Timbers, 152 Street, Fleetwood, and Bakerview-166 Street stations.

Three stations — Bakerview-166 Street, Willowbrook, and Langley City Centre — will include major bus exchanges, with the bus exchange for Langley City Centre being the largest. All eight stations will have a secured bike parkade, and a Transit Police hub will be accessible to the public within Langley City Centre Station, in addition to Transit Police administrative offices at 152 Street, Bakerview-166 Street, Hillcrest-184 Street, and Willowbrook stations.

Except for Green Timbers Station, all stations will incorporate a commercial retail unit.

The project team also noted the desire to ensure a safe design for new bike lanes in front of stations and bus stops to prevent conflicts between cyclists and pedestrians.

With all three key contracts for the project now awarded, major construction activities are expected to officially begin within weeks.

The contract for the design and construction of all stations was awarded to the consortium South Fraser Station Partners, which is comprised of Aecon Constructors, Acciona Infrastructure Canada, Pomerleau BC, and AECOM Canada. This consortium holds a contract worth $928 million, or about one-sixth of the project’s entire budget of $6 billion.

The consortium also entails the subcontractors of two architectural firms experienced in rapid transit station design — Francl Architecture and Perkins&Will. Both architectural firms were previously involved with the station designs of the Millennium Line’s Evergreen extension and the Canada Line.

In the materials for the current public consultation, which has an online survey that ends on December 11, 2024, the three Evergreen extension stations of Burquitlam Station, Coquitlam Central Station, and Moody Centre Station (designed by both architectural firms) were specifically noted as examples of the design quality and build of the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain stations.

If all goes as planned, this Expo Line extension reaching Langley City Centre will open by late 2029.

The travel time between King George Station and Langley City Centre Station will be about 22 minutes, while the travel time between Waterfront Station and Langley City Centre Station will be roughly 62 minutes. Trains on the extension will run every six minutes during peak hours and 10 minutes during mid-day.

Green Timbers Station (140th Street)

152 Street Station

Fleetwood Station (160th Street)

Bakerview-166 Street Station

Hillcrest-184 Street Station

Clayton Station (190th Street)

Willowbrook Station (196th Street)

Langley City Centre Station (203rd Street)

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