National

The costs of a Metro Vancouver SkyTrain extension jump by $1.9B and it's a year late

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 16 Aug, 2024 09:40 AM

The total cost of building the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension in Metro Vancouver has soared by $2 billion and the project has been delayed for a year.

The Transportation Ministry says in a statement the budget of the 16-kilometre extension of the SkyTrain into Langley is now estimated at $5.996 billion, up from the original $4 billion projected.

The project was to be moving passengers in 2028, but the ministry now says it is expected to be in service in late 2029, with the delays attributed to the "current market climate."

The ministry says the project is being built during a time of “significant market challenges” in B.C., and the costs of the project reflect rising inflation and labour-market challenges.

Once completed, the ministry says the commute from Langley into downtown Vancouver would be just over an hour.

The ballooning costs drew criticism from B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad, who says the $2 billion increase is an “absolute disgrace," and shows the NDP government’s inability to manage a major infrastructure project.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Police identify two women found dead in Vancouver, say deaths aren't connected

Police in Vancouver say they have identified the two women whose bodies were found on the shores of English Bay on Sunday and Monday. Sgt. Steve Addison says police now know the women's names and their families have been informed of their deaths.

Police identify two women found dead in Vancouver, say deaths aren't connected

Bracelet thief on the lam

Mounties on Vancouver Island say they're looking for the public's help to find a suspect in a theft investigation after a child's collection of handmade bracelets was stolen from a front porch in Langford. Westshore R-C-M-P say the gemstone bracelets were made for sale by an 11-year-old girl, and were stolen on July 17th off a porch where she had them displayed.

Bracelet thief on the lam

2 dead in Surrey fires

Police in Surrey say two fires in the city in the last few days have left two people dead in Whalley and Newton. Surrey RCMP say a fire at a home on 112A Avenue on July 20th claimed the life of an 85-year-old woman, but the blaze is not being treated as suspicious.

2 dead in Surrey fires

B.C. wildfire tally surges as firefighters take to air to battle blazes

The numbers seem ever increasing for British Columbia wildfire statistics, including more than 400 fires, tens of thousands of lightning strikes and at least six homes lost. The homes were in the Venables Valley, and Colton Davies with the Thompson-Nicola Regional District says they were among 20 buildings destroyed by the Shetland Creek wildfire.

B.C. wildfire tally surges as firefighters take to air to battle blazes

Bank of Canada cuts key interest rate by quarter percentage point to 4.5%

The Bank of Canada cut its key interest rate for a second consecutive time on Wednesday, but warned the path back to two per cent inflation may be uneven and would ultimately determine the pace of future rate cuts. The central bank says its decision to lower its policy rate by a quarter percentage point was motivated by easing price pressures and weakening economic conditions.

Bank of Canada cuts key interest rate by quarter percentage point to 4.5%

Battle to keep historic town wet and safe

The British Columbia gold rush town of Barkerville is drenched, both from overnight rains and sprinklers dousing its timber buildings, some more than 150 years old. It's part of an effort to save the historic park that is one of the Cariboo region's premier tourist attractions from the flames of the Antler Creek wildfire that is burning out of control about three kilometres away, said Stewart Cawood, Barkerville's public programming and media manager.