This first trainset, which arrived at the Operation and Maintenance Center in Burnaby in December 2023 and started field testing on March 8, 2025, will be ready to serve riders in late spring 2025, according to SkyTrain operator TransLink. The full order of 47 five-car trainsets (235 cars), it noted, will be gradually delivered, field tested on the Expo and Millennium lines, and added to the fleet one at a time through 2029.
Alstom last May reported landing an approximately C$123 million contract from TransLink for an additional six Mark V trainsets. The carbuilder is currently supplying 41 Mark V trainsets to TransLink. Ordered in 2020 from Bombardier, which Alstom acquired in 2021, they will eventually replace the original Mark I models. These sets are longer than TransLink’s current equipment and able to carry up to 25% more riders, in anticipation of the Broadway Subway and Surrey Langley SkyTrain extensions, according to TransLink. They were purchased as part of the SkyTrain Fleet Expansion Program, which is funded under the 10-Year Vision for Metro Vancouver transportation.
All the trainsets are being designed, manufactured, and tested in Canada at Alstom’s facilities in Kingston, Ontario, and in La Pocatière and Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Quebec.
The Mark V trainsets feature an open-gangway design, with mostly forward-facing seating and more space for mobility devices, strollers, bicycles, luggage, and leaning pads. Additionally, they offer upgraded heating, ventilation, and cooling systems. “The new digital interior information displays will provide riders with improved onboard transit alerts,” Alstom reported in May 2024. “Strip indicator lights at the doors will assist people who have hearing loss by flashing when doors close, fault warnings are issued, or when emergency brakes are deployed. The Mark V trains will operate with door chimes and on-train announcements to assist customers who are visually impaired.” Train operators will be located at the front and back of each train.
“TransLink is working to finish station upgrades to accommodate the longer Mark V vehicles before they can enter service,” the agency reported March 7, 2025. “We project that vehicle testing and infrastructure upgrades will be completed in the coming months, and that Mark Vs will be ready to enter service this spring.”
