2018 151 Snowbirds & RV Travelers - Feb/March

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Vancouver
RIDING THE RAILS
W
e decided to leave our vehicle in the city
of Mission for the day, and travel on
the West Coast Express commuter train into
Vancouver. West Coast Express (WCE) has five
trains travelling westbound Monday to Friday
mornings from Mission, BC to Waterfront Station
Terminal in downtown Vancouver, returning
eastbound to Mission in the afternoon, after
working hours. We caught the 6:25 am train and
arrived at the Waterfront station at 7:40 am. It
was our first time on a train, so we didn’t know
what to expect. We did a lot of research on the
internet the day before, which helped plan our
trip on the WCE and three Skytrain lines.
The personnel from WCE Mission Station
were very accommodating - they even showed
us how to get our boarding pass through their
electronic ticketing vending machine. Seating
on the trains is first-come-first-served, but it was
no problem getting a second-floor seat on the
right side of the train heading west into Vancouver.
We thought this would be the best side
because we would be following Burrard Inlet on
the last half of the ride and would be able to see
the marinas, freighters, yachts, bridges and the
city’s dry docks entering downtown Vancouver.
The seats were comfortable, and we had a
table with an electrical plug-in for laptops. The
windows were big and clean, and the ride was
smoother than we expected. At the beginning
of the trip, we were traveling faster than the
road traffic beside us on the Lougheed Hwy, but
as we got closer to Vancouver, the traffic was
busier, and the train stops were more frequent,
slowing us down a little.
West Coast Express has seven stops on the
75-minute ride. By the time WCE got to their
third stop (Port Coquitlam), over 100 people
STORY AND PHOTOS BY
CINDY PHILLIPS AND GORDON BARON
were waiting to board and when we arrived at
our destination, it was standing room only. The
journey was fantastic; we started out following
the Fraser River, with a great view of the
commercial activity from the forest industry.
Sawmills, shake mills, pole companies, sawdust
barges, log booms and dozer boats lined the
shoreline. Our window seat was on the right side
of the train, facing mostly in a northerly direction
out of the morning sunshine, which was great for
photographs, especially when we arrived in Port
Moody and the start of Burrard Inlet.
When the train arrived at the final destination
at Waterfront Station, it was rush hour, so
we waited for everyone to leave the train before
we got out of our seats, avoiding the traffic jam
at the exit gates. The stop is Vancouver’s “Grand
Central Station” — people were getting off
TransLinks ferry, “Seabus,” bringing commuters
34 SNOWBIRDS & RV TRAVELERS February/March 2018