Nanaimo station

For other uses, see Nanaimo (disambiguation).

This article is about the SkyTrain station in Vancouver. For the decommissioned Via Rail station in Nanaimo, see Nanaimo station (Via Rail).

Nanaimo is a partially elevated station on the Expo Line of Metro Vancouver's SkyTrain rapid transit system. The station is located on Nanaimo Street between Vanness Avenue and East 24th Avenue in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The station takes its name from Nanaimo Street, which is named after the city of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. Situated on a hillcrest, the station provides riders with a view of the west side and Downtown Vancouver.

Nanaimo
SkyTrain station
Street level view, facing southeast
General information
Location	2450 East 24th Avenue, Vancouver
Coordinates	49.248184°N 123.05564°W / 49.248184; -123.05564
Owned by	TransLink
Platforms	Side platforms
Tracks	2
Construction
Structure type	Partially elevated
Accessible	Yes
Architect	Architektengruppe U-Bahn
Other information
Station code	NA
Fare zone	1
History
Opened	December 11, 1985; 38 years ago (1985-12-11)
Passengers
2023[1]	2,182,500  19.7%
Rank	25 of 53
Services
Preceding station TransLink Following station Commercial–Broadway towards Waterfront Expo Line 29th Avenue towards King George or Production Way–University

Platform level

History

Nanaimo station was opened in 1985 as part of the original SkyTrain system (now known as the Expo Line). The Austrian architecture firm Architektengruppe U-Bahn was responsible for designing the station.^[2][3]

The station is the westernmost station on the Expo Line that sits atop of the former Central Park Line of the British Columbia Electric Railway. This line formerly ran just west of Nanaimo station to where New Westminster station is located today.

In 2002, Millennium Line service was introduced to the station, which provided outbound service to VCC–Clark station (originally Commercial Drive) via Columbia station in New Westminster. This service was discontinued and replaced with an Expo Line branch to Production Way–University station in 2016.^[4]

In the fourth quarter of 2018, TransLink was scheduled to begin a major upgrade of the station's bus exchange and entrance plaza to "improve safety and comfort for [the station's] passengers and to prepare for future service expansions".^[5] Construction began on the expansion of the bus loop on January 4, 2019, and was scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2019.^[6] The completion date was later pushed back to early 2020.^[7] The bus loop was largely complete by July 9, 2020.^[8]

Station information

Entrances

Nanaimo station is served by a single entrance located at the west end of that station.^[9] The entrance is accessible from Nanaimo Street, south of East 24th Avenue across the street from Vanness Avenue.

Transit connections

See also: List of bus routes in Metro Vancouver

Bus bay assignments are as follows:^[10]

Bay	Routes	Notes
1	25 Brentwood Station
2	25 UBC	To UBC Exchange
3	7 Dunbar	Trolley bus
4	—	HandyDART service

See also

• Filipino Plaza

References

1. "2023 Transit Service Performance Review – SkyTrain Stations Summaries". tableau.com. TransLink. April 17, 2024. Archived from the original on April 30, 2024. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
2. Pabillano, Jhenifer (February 21, 2011). "1982 SkyTrain station concept drawings!". The Buzzer Blog. TransLink. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
3. "U-Bahn Vancouver". Architektengruppe U-Bahn. Archived from the original on April 28, 2016. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
4. "SkyTrain network changes start today". CBC News. October 22, 2016. Archived from the original on November 4, 2016. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
5. "Nanaimo Exchange". TransLink. Archived from the original on September 30, 2018. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
6. Chan, Kenneth (January 4, 2019). "Construction begins on new Nanaimo Station bus loop January 2019". Daily Hive. Archived from the original on March 25, 2019. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
7. "Nanaimo Exchange". TransLink. Archived from the original on December 1, 2019. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
8. "New bus exchange and plaza opens at SkyTrain's Nanaimo Station (Photos)". DailyHive. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
9. Nanaimo Station Entrance Location (PDF) (Map). TransLink. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
10. Nanaimo Station (PDF) (Map). TransLink. June 2020. Retrieved June 6, 2022.