Granville station (TransLink)

Granville
SkyTrain station
Westbound platform in Granville Station
Location	655 Seymour Street, Vancouver. On Granville Mall, Vancouver
Coordinates	49°16′58″N 123°07′00″W / 49.282750°N 123.116639°W / 49.282750; -123.116639Coordinates: 49°16′58″N 123°07′00″W / 49.282750°N 123.116639°W / 49.282750; -123.116639
Owned by	BC Transit, TransLink
Platforms	Split platforms
Tracks	2
Connections	Vancouver City Centre
Construction
Structure type	Subway
Depth	25 metres
Platform levels	2
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Station code	GV
Fare zone	1
History
Opened	December 11, 1985
Traffic
Passengers (2011[1])	45,974
Services
Preceding station   TransLink   Following station Burrard toward Waterfront Expo Line Surrey Stadium–Chinatown toward King George Expo Line Lougheed Stadium–Chinatown toward Production Way–University

Granville is an underground SkyTrain station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, served by the Expo Line. 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.

At approximately 25 metres underground, Granville station is the deepest subway station on the Expo Line.

Location

A train arriving at Granville Station’s westbound platform.

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 Street and Seymour Street (both between Georgia and Dunsmuir Streets), and the Dunsmuir entrance between Granville and Seymour. The station can be accessed underground via Pacific Centre mall, through the Downtown Vancouver premises of the Hudson's Bay Company.

The station serves the shopping and entertainment districts along Granville and Robson streets, and the office and shopping complexes of Pacific Centre and Vancouver Centre. The station is also within walking distance of such amenities as Robson Square (home of the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Provincial Court of British Columbia, and a satellite campus of the University of British Columbia), the Orpheum Theatre, Vancouver Library Square, TD Tower, Scotia Tower and the HSBC Canada Building.

On September 22, 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 entrance 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 ticket-vending level with a connection to the existing Granville Mall entrance and The Bay/Pacific Centre. There are unoccupied retail spaces within the new station area’s ticket vending lobby and in the passageway to The Bay. The design of the station, its capacity, and connection to Granville Mall make it possible for the original facility to be closed entirely; however, it will remain in full service. The original station area closed only temporarily for lighting upgrades from 23 October 2006 to mid-November.^[2]

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 is one of the few stores located entirely within a fare paid zone of any SkyTrain station. It held a Shefield & Sons location prior to the summer of 2005; as of 2008, it holds an International News newsstand.

Services

Granville station is one of six SkyTrain subway 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 Street) heading to and from North and West Vancouver. Passengers are able to transfer to the Canada Line (served by Vancouver City Centre station) by walking through Pacific Centre or Vancouver Centre and The Bay department store, although the only direct transfer point is at Waterfront Station.

Design

Granville station is one of the busiest in the SkyTrain system.

Like Burrard and King Edward stations, Granville station has a distinctive platform design. The westbound track (to Waterfront station) is stacked above the eastbound track (to King George and Production Way–University 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.

Station information

Station layout

Entrances

• Granville Street Entrance is one of the original entrance for the station. Underground connection to the second basement level of HBC department store and Pacific Centre is available at concourse level. Three escalators are available between platform and concourse level; however, none is available between concourse and street. Escalator to this entrance is later made available through an underground connection from the new Dunsmuir entrance. No elevator available for this entrance, and there is no stairway available between concourse and platform.
• Seymour Street Entrance connects to the concourse of Granville entrance via a short stairwell. No escalator and elevator access is available from this entrance.
• Dunsmuir Street Entrance , built in 2006, provides elevator and escalator access between street and platform. It also include an underground connection to Granville entrance at concourse/street level. Similar to the Granville entrance, there are three escalators but no stairway is available between concourse and platform. Fare gates are located at the inbound platform level for this entrance.

Transit connections

• Local and night buses operate on Granville Street, in front of the entrance all days Monday to Thursday and during daytime on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Holidays:

• During Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Holidays evening, buses are rerouted to Seymour Street, near the Seymour entrance:

• The following suburban routes serves Georgia Street, with close proximity of the Granville entrance:

References

External links

Media related to Granville Station at Wikimedia Commons