British Columbia Rapid Transit Company 500/600 series
1991 UTDC ICTS Mark I
500/600 Series
In service 1991-present
Manufacturer Urban Transportation
Development Corporation Ltd.
Model ICTS Mark I 500/600 Series
Constructed 1991
Built at Millhaven, Ontario
Fleet numbers 121-136
Formation 6 cars per set (occasionally 4 per set)
2 cars per unit set (semi-permanent)
Owner TransLink (1999-present)
BC Transit (1991-1999)
Operator British Columbia
Rapid Transit Company
Depot OMC1
Lines served Expo Line Logo and Symbol-a.png
Millennium Line Logo and Symbol-a.png (from 2002-2016)
Specifications
Length 12.70 m
Width 2.50 m
Weight 15 t
Doors 2 per side
Capacity 80
Top speed 90 km/h (design)
80 km/h (service)
Electrification 650 V DC
Traction motor 3 phase AC linear motors
Safety system Thales SelTrac S40 (ATC)
SkyTrain cars 121-136 are 16 UTDC ICTS Mark I units built in 1991 in Kingston, Ontario. They run exclusively on the Expo Line in 6 car sets and may be coupled with other Mark I cars from other build years.
Contents
1 Features
2 History
2.1 Milan order
3 Details
4 References
Features
They are distinguished by a large front window in place of a door in addition to minor interior differences from their 1984-85 counterparts. They originally featured door buttons, but were removed shortly upon delivery. The button locations were of buttons were covered up with a plate or disconnected.
Other than minor interior and exterior works, these cars have yet to be refurbished and are not part of the current refurbishment project that is currently ongoing for the 1984 and 1985 Mark I cars. These cars also did not have their interior lights retrofitted in 2011 to LEDs as part of an initial refurbishment project.
History
The order for these cars were placed in late 1989 to cope with growing ridership demands and for the SkyTrain extension to Scott Road Station.. The contract was valued at $33 million.[1] At the time this order was placed, it was suggested that BC Transit should purchase the Scarborough RT trains, as the Toronto Transit Commission at the time was looking into scrapping its systen.[2] However, this idea was dismissed as it would cost $400,000 to convert each of the 28 cars for SkyTrain service.
At the time the order was placed, UTDC's Millhaven plant laid off workers after a contract fell through for manufacturing Mark I trains for Milan earlier in the year.[3] The BC Transit contract saw 200 workers rehired.[4]
In 1991, select pairs had temporarily been assigned dead numbers (057-060, 119-120) upon delivery. This was due to upgrades being done to the OMC computers to be able to accommodate numbers higher than 120.[5] The pairs were eventually renumbered to match with the rest of the batch.
Following a tradition of other railroads around the world, cars were named after cities, towns, and geographical locations in British Columbia to foster goodwill throughout BC towards the system and as a symbol of British Columbian excellence.[6] The names were removed upon handover of ownership to TransLink.
Until 2016, these and other Mark I trains also ran on the Millennium Line but now runs exclusively on the Expo Line since the two lines no longer run concurrently and differing ridership levels with the opening of the Evergreen Extension.
As of April 2017, these cars became the last vehicles in TransLink's fleet to remain in BC Transit colours. However, the livery is usually covered by ads as these cars are frequently used for ad-wraps.
In October 2023, set 133-134 was the first pair to be disposed of, beginning the withdrawal of Mark 1 service on the Expo and Millennium Lines.
Milan order
It has been widely speculated and claimed that this order was part of a rejected batch of trains that were intended to serve a new line for a stadium in Milan. Presently, there is no evidence that these cars were the exact same cars as the Milan order, but the timing is uncanny between when BC Transit placed the order and when Milan ended the deal with UTDC, with some cars already made.
In August 1988, UTDC joined with Ansaldo Transporti of Italy to design and build a 7.7-kilometre system to serve the Milan sports stadium, where the 1990 World Cup soccer tournament was to be hosted.[7] The system was to use the same ALRT technology already in use by Vancouver, Scarborough, and Detroit.
However, in March 1989, the contract fell through when the Italian government decided not to fund the project.[8] The contract was initially to have 32 cars constructed and when the contract was cancelled, work had already started on some cars.[3]
Details
Trains operate in 6 car sets, or 3 groups of 2 car semi-permanent married sets. Sets can be coupled with other Mark I pairs from other build years.