SURREY — Surrey federal, provincial and civic politicians unveiled plans for $25 million in upgrades to Surrey Central SkyTrain Station on Friday afternoon.
The work, to begin in April and expected to be completed by the end of next year, includes a new elevator, three new escalators, improved lighting and a new staircase.
There will be two new entrances on the north end of the station.
"We look forward to the shovels in the ground this spring and we're going to see a brand new station come out of the ground as a result," said Peter Fassbender, minister responsible for TransLink.
Surrey Central is one of seven Expo Line stations to see upgrades. The others undergoing construction are Commercial-Broadway, Metrotown, Joyce-Collingwood, and work on New Westminster Station, Scott Road Station and Main Street-Science World has already been completed.
Vivienne King, president of SkyTrain and West Coast Express, Randeep Sarai, Liberal MP for Surrey Centre, Surrey City Councillor Dave Woods and TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond also participated in the announcement.
"I'm so happy we're getting an upgrade to the platform here," Woods said. "It's pretty busy here."
"We're hoping in the next few years that phase one of the light rail rapid transit system will provide fast and reliable transit to Guildford and to the Newton town centres," he added.
Sarai said investing in infrastructure projects provides jobs "that helped the middle class grow and prosper."
The provincial government is providing $6.9 million, the federal government $3.2 million through the Building Canada Fund, and TransLink the rest.
tom.zytaruk@thenownewspaper.