SkyTrain Automated Rapid Transit Network
This overview was generated with AI from the public sources listed below and checked against them before publication. It has not had a complete human fact-check — treat it as a starting point and follow the sources.
11 sourced claims on this page, none individually verified yet — turn on “Sources in the text” to see each one.
How this atlas is made · What “last verified” means · What “source-checked” means · The full record behind this page
SkyTrain has run driverless since 1985. Its 2022 derailment traced back to a 1989 switch overdue for inspection, while the guideway crew carried 3,092 open work orders.
what does this mean?
The strongest source is the operator's or the city's own reporting — an official report, dataset or press release. It grades who did the looking — not how well the project went. All four grades →Part of 1001 Smart Cities — 1,229 documented projects · 🏙️ 10 more in Vancouver · 🚌 Public transport guide · 🚲 Mobility projects
SkyTrain has run driverless since opening in December 1985; roving SkyTrain attendants can drive a train manually if needed. Its signalling, the forerunner of Thales' SelTrac, runs all three lines; the Canada Line uses different Hyundai Rotem trains, also fully automated. The Expo and Millennium Lines averaged nearly 349,000 weekday boardings in 2024. A 2022 derailment near Scott Road was traced to a worn, poorly installed bolt connection at a switch.
Sources
📅 How old is the evidence?
Two clocks, kept apart: when this entry’s sources were published, and what has happened to its record in the atlas. Documented span: since 1985. 3 of 5 sources carry a publication date, from June 2023 to 11 December 2025.
When the sources were published
- Business in Vancouver · pressBusiness in Vancouver — Surrey derailment investigation
- theBreaker.news · presstheBreaker — SkyTrain derailment investigation points to neglect (30 June 2023)
- TransLink (South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority) · operatorTransLink — SkyTrain Marks 40 Years
Show your work What this page rests on and what it can’t tell you · all 11 claims with their sources · the forensic record
Evidence file · public beta 11 addressable claims, 5 source dossiers, one permanent baseline. The file is unreviewed — an AI-assisted structural migration, not a human or expert endorsement. Every revision keeps a permanent copy under revision history.
Inspect the claims, one by one — verbatim text, sources and caveats for all 11
The text below is copied verbatim from the published record. Each claim names the source dossiers that carry it; caveats stay attached to the claim they qualify.
clm-042a352bbd24f49b
quantitative
SkyTrain has run driverless since opening in December 1985
Sources carrying this claim
clm-c31ea8277d1d2e39
descriptive
roving SkyTrain attendants can drive a train manually if needed
Sources carrying this claim
clm-414f462408ba5e60
descriptive
Its signalling, the forerunner of Thales' SelTrac, runs all three lines
Sources carrying this claim
clm-4b238eb49e4f3f44
descriptive
the Canada Line uses different Hyundai Rotem trains, also fully automated
Sources carrying this claim
clm-ef5bfdd5347003ec
quantitative
The Expo and Millennium Lines averaged nearly 349,000 weekday boardings in 2024
Sources carrying this claim
clm-4ed1b6891fba75a9
quantitative
A 2022 derailment near Scott Road was traced to a worn, poorly installed bolt connection at a switch
Sources carrying this claim
clm-ee32cd889380798b
quantitative
BC Rapid Transit Company, which runs the Expo and Millennium Lines, gives an on-time service delivery rating of 96.5%
Sources carrying this claim
clm-e5b97c72979da05c
descriptive
the operator's own figure, published without its method
Sources carrying this claim
clm-d47b92e2175f489e
descriptive
Automation does not remove the maintenance burden
Sources carrying this claim
clm-b758b64626d0b217
quantitative
the 2022 derailment came from a switch installed in 1989 that was overdue for inspection and replacement
Sources carrying this claim
clm-045fecdc892bb6ff
quantitative
while the guideway department carried 3,092 open work orders
Sources carrying this claim
Forensic record — source dossiers, gaps, hashes and the exact revision this page renders
This layer records what is known about each source, what is still missing, and the exact snapshot this page is rendering. A missing date, archive or hash stays visible as missing.
Awaiting operator and domain-expert review; publication of this revision implies neither.
sha256:fcb3672230d2eca73ab41cce896d2aeaab0510a18180df7cd974ff21d3dc94bb
- 11
- of 11 claims mapped
- 5
- source dossiers
- 2
- publication dates recorded
- 0
- archives linked
- 0
- exact locators
- 0
- content captures hashed
Governance facts carried by the record
- Operator
- TransLink, via BC Rapid Transit Company (Expo & Millennium Lines) and ProTrans BC (Canada Line, P3 concession)
- Actor types
- regional-government, private
- Funding model
- mixed
- Funding description
- Provincial and regional government capital funding for Expo/Millennium; Canada Line built as a federal-provincial-local public-private partnership
- Cost
- Not recorded
- Ownership
- Not recorded
- Decision rights
- Not recorded
- Exit conditions
- Not recorded
5 source dossiers
TransLink — SkyTrain Marks 40 Years
- Stable source ID
src-a1f4e22217067a4d- Publisher
- Name not classified · translink.ca
- Type / language
- web-page · language not classified
- Published
- 2025-12-11
- Updated
- Not recorded
- Source last checked
- No source-level check date
- Record last verified
- 2026-10-14
- Dossier created
- 2026-10-14
- Retrieved copy
- No local capture recorded
- Archive
- No archived copy linked
- Content hash
- No captured content hash
- Locator
- Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Open the recorded source note
TransLink release for SkyTrain's 40th anniversary: driverless trains for four decades; the Expo and Millennium lines averaged nearly 349,000 weekday boardings last year; calls SkyTrain at Expo 86 the world's first fully automated driverless rapid transit system.
- Claims linked
TransLink — British Columbia Rapid Transit Company
- Stable source ID
src-05b0b00604aa3860- Publisher
- Name not classified · translink.ca
- Type / language
- web-page · language not classified
- Published
- Not recorded
- Updated
- Not recorded
- Source last checked
- No source-level check date
- Record last verified
- 2026-10-14
- Dossier created
- 2026-10-14
- Retrieved copy
- No local capture recorded
- Archive
- No archived copy linked
- Content hash
- No captured content hash
- Locator
- Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Open the recorded source note
Operator page for the Expo and Millennium Lines: about 350,000 passengers per weekday and an on-time service delivery performance rating of 96.5%.
- Claims linked
Wikipedia — SkyTrain (Vancouver)
- Stable source ID
src-e2395b2cf4230d18- Publisher
- Name not classified · en.wikipedia.org
- Type / language
- web-page · language not classified
- Published
- Not recorded
- Updated
- Not recorded
- Source last checked
- No source-level check date
- Record last verified
- 2026-10-14
- Dossier created
- 2026-10-14
- Retrieved copy
- No local capture recorded
- Archive
- No archived copy linked
- Content hash
- No captured content hash
- Locator
- Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Open the recorded source note
Encyclopaedia: limited fare-free service from 11 December 1985, revenue service from 3 January 1986; signalling originally by Alcatel, later the basis of Thales' SelTrac, used on all three lines; Canada Line trains by Hyundai Rotem, fully automated; SkyTrain attendants can operate trains manually.
Business in Vancouver — Surrey derailment investigation
- Stable source ID
src-79c2a5914fb70470- Publisher
- Name not classified · biv.com
- Type / language
- web-page · language not classified
- Published
- Not recorded
- Updated
- Not recorded
- Source last checked
- No source-level check date
- Record last verified
- 2026-10-14
- Dossier created
- 2026-10-14
- Retrieved copy
- No local capture recorded
- Archive
- No archived copy linked
- Content hash
- No captured content hash
- Locator
- Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Open the recorded source note
Reports the operator's internal investigation of the May 2022 derailment near Scott Road: neglect and deficient quality control.
- Claims linked
theBreaker — SkyTrain derailment investigation points to neglect (30 June 2023)
- Stable source ID
src-322ce6726017e829- Publisher
- Name not classified · thebreaker.news
- Type / language
- web-page · language not classified
- Published
- 2023-06-30
- Updated
- Not recorded
- Source last checked
- No source-level check date
- Record last verified
- 2026-10-14
- Dossier created
- 2026-10-14
- Retrieved copy
- No local capture recorded
- Archive
- No archived copy linked
- Content hash
- No captured content hash
- Locator
- Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Open the recorded source note
Reports the BC Rapid Transit Co. September 2022 investigation 'Derailment Investigation at Switch DC 47': root cause worn lateral surfaces and elongated bolt holes combined with poor bolt installation; the 1989 switch was overdue for replacement; 3,092 open work orders in the guideway department.
Known limits of this file
- Publisher names and source languages have not yet been classified; domains are recorded without guessing.
- Existing source notes are descriptive locators, not page- or paragraph-exact citations.
- A missing archive, publication date or content hash is shown as null rather than inferred.
- The project-level evidence grade ranks the strongest source in the entry; it is not a truth score for every claim.
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📎 Cite this project
1001 Smart Cities (2026). “SkyTrain Automated Rapid Transit Network” — Vancouver, Canada. The Smart City Atlas. https://1001smartcities.org/projects/vancouver-skytrain-automation/ (last verified 2026-10-14). Data: CC BY 4.0.
The underlying data is free to reuse with attribution — see the open data page.