The Skytrain runs in Burnaby, B.C., on April 14, 2020. The total costs of building the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain, a 16-kilometre-long project to connect two fast-growing cities in B.C., have soared 50 per cent to just under $6-billion and the completion date has been delayed for a year.JONATHAN HAYWARD/The Canadian Press
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.