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Main Street-Science World

A Mark II SkyTrain ready to leave Main Street-Science World Station westbound
Opening date:	1983*, December 11, 1985
Line(s):	Expo Line, Millennium Line
Station type:	Elevated
Platform type:	Centre platform
Connection(s)	3 Main / Marine Drive Station 3 Downtown 8 Fraser 8 Downtown 19 Metrotown Station 19 Stanley Park 22 Knight (Peak only) 22 Macdonald (Peak only) C21 Beach C23 Davie (Peak only) N8 Fraser N8 Downtown N19 Surrey Central Station N19 Downtown

A Mark I SkyTrain leaving at Main Street-Science World station westbound.

Main Street – Science World Station is an elevated station on the Expo Line of the SkyTrain system in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The station is accessible from both sides of Main St. at the intersection of Main Street and Terminal Avenue, and is adjacent to Pacific Central Station, the city's inter-city railway and bus terminal.

History

Main Street – Science World station was one of two SkyTrain stations that serviced the Expo 86 site - the other was Stadium–Chinatown Station. Opened for regular service in 1985 (and full revenue service in 1986), this station served as an access point to the East Gate of Expo 86.

Prior to the beginning of regular SkyTrain operations, Main Street Station (as it was then called) served during the summer of 1983 as the western terminus of a short, 1-kilometre-long demonstration section of track. A single train ran both eastbound and westbound on the current westbound track, between the station and what was at that time the end of the completed guideway, at the eastern end of the centre median of Terminal Avenue.

Once Expo 86 had ended, many of its buildings had either been torn down or removed. One of the few to remain was the nearby geodesic dome, known during the fair as "Expo Centre". Now one of the city's most recognizable landmarks, a science museum known as Science World moved into this space. A few years later, in 1989, the SkyTrain station added "Science World" to its name, due to its proximity to this popular attraction, just one block away.

In late 2004, Science World officially changed its name to the Telusphere, and later to Telus World of Science; this change has not yet been reflected in the name of this SkyTrain station.

Plans to give the 26 year old station a complete architectural facelift and extension are currently underway and won't commence until after the 2010 Winter Olympics. Main Street – Science World is the oldest station on the Expo Line.

Services

• The two platforms of Main Street-Science World Station are numbered as follows:

• The Main Street-Science World station is a major connection point for the TransLink Main Street trolley bus routes (including Routes #3 Main/Downtown, #8 Fraser/Downtown, and #19 Stanley Park/Metrotown Station), as well as for the VIA Rail and Amtrak trains that arrive and depart from the nearby Pacific Central Station
• The eastern terminus of the Downtown Historic Railway is located near this station; that line's streetcars run westbound along the south side of False Creek to Granville Island.
• The eastern terminus of both False Creek Ferries and the Aquabus can also be found nearby just south of Science World.
• There is a McDonald's, a Burger King, a Subway, a Tim Hortons and a Starbucks near the station.

Trivia

The Main Street-Science World station was the first elevated station on the SkyTrain line to have buildings built around and above it, as witnessed by the Vancity tower on the west side of the station.

Coordinates: 49°16′23″N 123°06′01″W / 49.273114°N 123.100348°W / 49.273114; -123.100348