Granville Station (TransLink)

Infobox Vancouver SkyTrain station
name = Granville Station


caption = The westbound platform in Granville Station.
first_opened = 1985
line = Expo Line, Millennium Line
connections = 98 B-Line
North Shore buses

|

Granville Station is an underground SkyTrain station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, served by the Expo and Millennium Lines. The station is located in the Dunsmuir Tunnel located beneath Downtown Vancouver, and opened in 1985.

The station is named for nearby Granville Street, whose name in turn derives from ‘Granville’, the name of the original settlement that preceded Vancouver prior to its incorporation in 1886. The portion of Granville Street on which this station is located is known as the Granville Mall.

Location

Granville Station is located in the heart of the Granville Entertainment District which is known for urban shopping, trendy culture, and nightlife. The station is accessible from the surface via entrances on Granville and Seymour Streets (both between Georgia and Dunsmuir Street), and the newly opened Dunsmuir entrance between Granville and Seymour. The station can also be accessed underground via Pacific Centre mall, through the Downtown Vancouver premises of the Hudson's Bay Company. Granville Station is the deepest underground station in the SkyTrain system.

On 22 September 2006, elevator access was introduced from Dunsmuir Street with the completion of the neighbouring Hudson on Granville development, and large signs have been added on the platforms to guide handicapped passengers to the newly-available elevators. The new entrance also has separate escalator access to the platform levels independent of the existing station in a similar two up/one down configuration for the longest bank, and a new ticket-vending level with a connection to the existing Granville Mall entrance and The Bay/Pacific Centre. There are a number of not yet occupied retail spaces located within the new station area’s ticket vending lobby, and in the passageway to The Bay. The design of the new station, its capacity, and connection to Granville Mall make it possible that the original facility could be closed entirely; however, it will remain in full service. The original station area closed only temporarily for lighting upgrades from October 23, 2006 [cite web| title= The Buzzer: Access to Granville Station temporarily restricted effective Oct. 23| url=http://translink.bc.ca/files/buzzer/2006/Buzzer_Oct12.pdf |publisher=TransLink |accessdate=2006-05-26] , to around mid-November.

There is a small retail space standing at the bottom of the long escalator bank in the original station area, where the corridor splits into the westbound and eastbound routes. It held a Shefield & Sons location prior to the summer of 2005, but this closed for unknown reasons. This space is currently empty.

ervices

Granville Station is one of five SkyTrain stations on the Expo Line serving Downtown Vancouver. It connects with many TransLink bus routes, including trolleybus routes on the Granville Mall, and suburban bus routes (running on nearby Georgia, Howe, and Seymour Streets) heading to and from North and West Vancouver, Richmond (including the 98 B-Line), Delta, Surrey, and White Rock.

Most bus routes (including trolley buses) which normally run past the station on Granville Mall have been diverted to Seymour Street (northbound) and Howe Street (southbound), with some exceptions. There will be no traffic on Granville Street in the downtown area until the construction of the Canada Line is completed, which is expected in the fall of 2009.

Design

Like Burrard Station, Granville Station has a distinctive platform design. The westbound track (to Waterfront Station) is stacked above the eastbound track (to King George and VCC-Clark stations), with the westbound platform being one level above the eastbound platform.

Granville Station is unique in being one of only a few stations having no surface entrance building of its own, independent of any adjacent buildings (Main Street-Science World Station is another for example). The station has three entrances: Granville Mall through the Hudson’s Bay Company department store, Seymour Street with direct access to the ticketing platform, and Dunsmuir Street through The Hudson condominium development.

References

The next station is...

Expo/Millennium Line
station=Granville
inbound=Burrard
outbound=Stadium-Chinatown