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Surrey Central
SkyTrain station
Surrey Central's north stationhouse on City Parkway
General information
Location	10277 City Parkway Surrey, British Columbia Canada
Coordinates	49°11′22″N 122°50′52″W / 49.189473°N 122.847871°W / 49.189473; -122.847871
Owned by	TransLink
Platforms	Centre platform
Tracks	2
Connections	R1 King George Blvd
Construction
Structure type	Elevated
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Station code	SC
Fare zone	3
History
Opened	March 28, 1994; 30 years ago (1994-03-28)
Rebuilt	2017–2019; 5 years ago (2019)
Previous names	Whalley Central (planning)
Passengers
2023	4,921,900  26.4%
Rank	7 of 53
Services
Preceding station TransLink Following station Gatewaytowards Waterfront Expo LineSurrey branch King GeorgeTerminus

Surrey Central is an elevated station on the Expo Line of Metro Vancouver's SkyTrain rapid transit system. The station is located in the Whalley / City Centre district of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, just east of the North Surrey Recreation Centre. The station is within walking distance of the Central City shopping centre, Surrey City Hall, and SFU Surrey, the Surrey campus of Simon Fraser University.

History

Surrey Central station was opened in 1994 along with two other stations when the Expo Line was extended from Scott Road station farther into Whalley, to the "Surrey City Centre" district. Prior to the opening of the station, there was a bus loop on the site known as "Whalley Exchange", which opened in 1975. The station was briefly known as "Whalley Central" during planning; however, the name "Surrey Central" was chosen in December 1992 as the winning entry in a public contest.

Over the years, the station has earned a reputation for being unsafe and a magnet for crime, including violence and drug trafficking. In 2009, it had the second-highest number of violent crimes in the SkyTrain system (with Commercial–Broadway station having the highest).

In an effort to combat the station's rundown image, and to show off experimental urban design, the City of Surrey and TransLink agreed to have Surrey Central station participate in the GVTA's Urban Transit Village program. The Transit Villages were defined by TransLink as "a new approach to station design and access." While the original schedule called for construction to be completed by the second quarter of 2007, nothing beyond design plans were completed. The Surrey Central plan specifically called for improvements in four areas: station access, street design, King George Boulevard, and land use.

Officers from the Metro Vancouver Transit Police can be found patrolling the bus loop and SkyTrain platform in an effort to reduce crime and disorder, with supplemental volunteers patrolling the area and reporting any suspicious or dangerous behaviour. By the mid-2010s, with extensive police patrols and redevelopment of the area, violent crimes shifted from Whalley south to Newton, which has taken over the area's reputation of being the most dangerous part of Surrey.

In March 2017, station upgrades started on Surrey Central station to create two new entrances on the north side of the station at Central Avenue and City Parkway to reduce congestion. Accessibility and lighting was also improved with three additional escalators and an elevator. Construction work was completed in February 2019, and the new stationhouse opened to the public in March 2019.

Services

Surrey Central station is a transfer point for several bus routes that serve various areas of Surrey, White Rock, North Delta and Langley.

Station information

Design

Surrey Central station was designed by Musson Cattell Mackey Architects and includes a series of references to Victorian-style train sheds, which the Vancouver Sun criticized as "attempts to create instant heritage where none exists".

Entrances

• North stationhouse : located at the corner of Central Avenue and City Parkway, the stationhouse provides access to Surrey City Centre Public Library, Surrey City Hall and the Kwantlen Polytechnic University Civic Plaza campus. Renovations on the north entrances started in March 2017 to improve circulation and accessibility and the new stationhouse opened in March 2019.
• Rec Centre entrance (east) : located on City Parkway and provides access to downtown Surrey and the North Surrey Recreation Centre. R1 King George Blvd stops are also located in front of this entrance.
• Bus Exchange entrance (southwest): located within the Surrey Central station bus exchange. An up escalator and stairs connect the bus exchange with the station platform via the concourse. This entrance also serves the Central City shopping centre and SFU Surrey Campus.

Transit connections

Bus bay assignments are as follows:

References

1. "2023 Transit Service Performance Review – SkyTrain Stations Summaries". tableau.com. TransLink. April 17, 2024. Archived from the original on April 30, 2024. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
2. "SkyTrain Your City to City Connection" (PDF). The Buzzer. BC Transit. March 11, 1994. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
3. "Surrey-Delta-White Rock" (PDF). The Buzzer. British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority. May 23, 1975. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
4. "Another 15 routes becoming accessible" (PDF). The Buzzer. BC Transit. September 25, 1992. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
5. "Surrey SkyTrain station gets down-to-earth name". Vancouver Sun. December 17, 1992. p. B1. Retrieved June 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Nagels, Jeff (September 11, 2009). "SkyTrain crime falls but surrey stations still worst". The Surrey Leader. ProQuest 373135528.(subscription may be required or content may be available in libraries)
7. Skelton, Chad (August 3, 2010). "More than 3,500 crimes plagued Metro's transit system in 2009, data shows". The Vancouver Sun. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
8. Reynolds, Sheila (March 31, 2015). "Transit Watch provides more eyes and ears for police". Surrey Now-Leader. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
9. "Newton taking over Whalley's crime reputation". The Vancouver Sun. Retrieved August 18, 2014.
10. "Surrey Central SkyTrain Station Upgrades Begin". TransLink. Archived from the original on January 29, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
11. Chan, Kenneth (February 22, 2019). "$24-million expansion of SkyTrain's Surrey Central Station now complete (PHOTOS)". Daily Hive. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
12. ^ TransLink BC (March 3, 2019). "[Surrey Central] open now! I hear it's pretty nice! ^LA" (Tweet). Retrieved March 3, 2019 – via Twitter.
13. Ward, Robin (September 10, 1994). "Saturday Review column". Vancouver Sun. p. D8. Retrieved June 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
14. "Translink Surrey Central Upgrades". Archived from the original on June 28, 2017. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
15. Surrey Central Station Map (PDF) (Map). TransLink. January 2024. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 2, 2024. Retrieved April 2, 2024.

External links

• Media related to Surrey Central station at Wikimedia Commons

v t e TransLink services in Metro Vancouver
SkyTrain History – Lines and stations – Rolling stock Expo Line   Waterfront ■■■■ Burrard ■ Granville Stadium–Chinatown Main Street–Science World Commercial–Broadway ■■ Nanaimo 29th Avenue Joyce–Collingwood ■ Patterson Metrotown Royal Oak Edmonds 22nd Street New Westminster Columbia ■ Scott Road ■ Gateway Surrey Central ■ King George ■ Lougheed branch Columbia ■ Sapperton Braid Lougheed Town Centre ■ Production Way–University ■ Surrey–Langley extension (future) Green Timbers 152 Street Fleetwood Bakerview–166 Street Hillcrest–184 Street Clayton Willowbrook Langley City Centre Millennium Line   VCC–Clark Commercial–Broadway ■■ Renfrew Rupert Gilmore Brentwood Town Centre Holdom Sperling–Burnaby Lake Lake City Way Production Way–University ■ Lougheed Town Centre ■ Burquitlam Moody Centre ■ Inlet Centre Coquitlam Central ■■ Lincoln Lafarge Lake–Douglas Broadway extension (future) Arbutus South Granville Oak–VGH Broadway–City Hall ■ Mount Pleasant Great Northern Way–Emily Carr Canada Line   Waterfront ■■■■ Vancouver City Centre Yaletown–Roundhouse Olympic Village Broadway–City Hall ■ King Edward Oakridge–41st Avenue ■ Langara–49th Avenue Marine Drive Bridgeport ■ Capstan Aberdeen Lansdowne Richmond–Brighouse Airport branch Bridgeport ■ Templeton Sea Island Centre YVR–Airport
Passenger ferry and commuter rail SeaBus   Waterfront ■■■■ Lonsdale Quay ■ West Coast Express   Waterfront ■■■■ Moody Centre ■ Coquitlam Central ■■ Port Coquitlam Pitt Meadows Maple Meadows Port Haney Mission City
Bus routes and transit exchanges B-Line   99 B-Line RapidBus   R1 King George Blvd R2 Marine Dr R3 Lougheed Hwy R4 41st Ave R5 Hastings St R6 Scott Rd Exchanges Blanca Loop Capilano University Exchange Carvolth Exchange Dunbar Loop Guildford Exchange Haney Place Exchange Kootenay Loop Ladner Exchange Langley Centre Lonsdale Quay Marpole Loop Newton Exchange Park Royal Exchange Phibbs Exchange Scottsdale Exchange SFU Exchange South Delta Exchange South Surrey Park and Ride Stanley Park Loop Steveston Exchange UBC Exchange White Rock Centre General Coast Mountain Bus Company Trolley buses in Vancouver West Vancouver Municipal Transit Former B-Line 97 B-Line 98 B-Line Exchanges Airport Station Matthews Exchange
Miscellaneous Cycling BC Parkway Central Valley Greenway Fares Compass card U-Pass BC Other Metro Vancouver Transit Police Surrey LRT
Stations ordered inbound → outbound ■■■■■■■ indicate connections Future stations or routes italicized

• Expo Line (SkyTrain) stations
• Railway stations in Canada opened in 1994
• SkyTrain stations in Surrey
• 1994 establishments in British Columbia