British ColumbiaWhy is West Coast Express service so limited, and why is public transit service linking Metro Vancouver to neighbouring regions so minimal? The answers are complex — and a big reason why the speed of improving service is anything but express. Train only runs weekdays during rush hours, and TransLink CEO says it’s not likely to change soonJustin McElroy · CBC News · Posted: Oct 30, 2025 11:10 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesOpened in 1995, the West Coast Express is celebrating 30 years in operation. (Glen Kugelstadt/CBC)TransLink is celebrating 30 years of the West Coast Express (WCE) with an event at Waterfront Station, live music and facepainting stations, and the rarest of sights — a train that operates in Metro Vancouver on a weekend. “It’s a big deal for us. The West Coast Express is a really integral part of how people get around in this region,” said TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn. “It’s a really critical connection, and we want to celebrate the great success that it’s really been.”The 69-kilometre route between downtown Vancouver and the Fraser Valley is the only regional train route in Metro Vancouver, with stops at Waterfront, Port Moody, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge and Mission. However, unlike the other rapid transit routes in Metro Vancouver, the West Coast Express typically only runs Monday to Friday, and only ten times a day — five times headed west in the morning, and five times headed east in the evening. WATCH | What’s the future of this commuter train?:Why is it so hard to make Metro Van’s only train line better?This weekend marks the 30th anniversary of the West Coast Express, which links commuters from Vancouver to Mission, B.C. But as Justin McElroy reports, some say the service could be improved, while others ask why it’s so difficult to create new regional transit options in Southwest B.C?But why is West Coast Express service so limited compared to other modes of transit in Metro Vancouver? And why is public transit service linking Metro Vancouver to neighbouring regions so minimal?The answers are complex — and a big reason why the speed of improving service is anything but express. TransLink doesn’t own the rail line“It all comes down, as it often does, to funding and to governance,” said Quinn.In the case of governance, the actual train tracks are owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, and TransLink pays money to have access to the tracks for a limited amount of time. Quinn said more funding could result in a WCE that runs more often or in multiple directions, but it could also interfere with freight service to and from the Port of Vancouver. “We do have a mandate to take a holistic look at transportation and goods and people movement throughout the whole region,” he said. Canadian Pacific Kansas City owns the rail line that TransLink uses for its West Coast Express operations, and it costs TransLink to use space on the line for limited amounts of times. (Justin McElroy/CBC)“Part of that is this balancing act … is getting freight movement through a very tight corridor from the Port of Vancouver into the rest of the country. And so we want to be sensitive to that.”Beyond that, there are multiple reasons why expanding WCE service isn’t high on TransLink’s current priority list. Because West Coast Express focuses heavily on morning commuters to downtown Vancouver, it has the slowest post-pandemic recovery rate of any TransLink service. And, B.C. Transit is responsible for transit outside Metro Vancouver, so services to or from Metro Vancouver require different jurisdictional and funding questions to be resolved. An expansion also doesn’t seem to register as a political priority — Port Coquitlam mayor and Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation chair Brad West didn’t respond to a request for comment, while Mission Mayor Paul Horn originally agreed to an interview, before his staff said “he doesn’t have much to say about the topic.”“Our Mayors’ Council has set out a number of priorities,” said Quinn. “Bus rapid transit, working with the province to finish the business case to UBC, the Burnaby Mountain Gondola, more SkyTrains, more buses, more bus depots … we’ve got to be very careful and very choosy with what projects we want to pursue at this point.”Transit north looks more promisingIn spite of that, last year the NDP made an election promise to extend West Coast Express service to Chilliwack if re-elected. However, the provincial government’s enthusiasm for their campaign promise seems limited. “Currently, our priorities are on getting a SkyTrain extension out to Langley and the widening of Highway 1,” said Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth, who also referenced ownership of the train line as a challenge, “but we have been doing some work in understanding what would be required.” But while expanding transit east from Metro Vancouver seems like a low priority at the moment, there seems to be more progress heading north. “We have lots of people commuting both to the north and to the south of Squamish daily for work that could be … more appropriately handled by the transit system,” said Squamish Mayor Armand Hurford. Municipalities from Squamish to Pemberton have been pushing for transit service connecting their communities and Metro Vancouver for many years, and in recent months progress seems to have accelerated — as Farnworth himself confirmed to CBC News. “That’s something that I would like to see happen,” he said. “In fact, there’s work underway in my ministry … what would be required, what kind of governance structure, how you would fund it, those sorts of things.”Which bodes well for transit enthusiasts along Highway 99 — even if the WCE’s 30-year impact will likely remain similar for some years to come. “It’s a good number of people coming downtown,” said Quinn. “But it really is serving quite a select group of people on a very specific type of schedule for sure.”ABOUT THE AUTHORJustin is the Municipal Affairs Reporter for CBC Vancouver, covering local political stories throughout British Columbia.
30 years on, why has West Coast Express rail service remained so limited?
