Getting Around the Tri-Cities: SkyTrain, West Coast Express & Commute Times

The Evergreen Line: your spine through the Tri-Cities

The single biggest change to Tri-Cities commuting arrived on December 2, 2016, when the Evergreen extension of the Millennium Line opened — an 11-kilometre stretch of SkyTrain that finally connected Coquitlam and Port Moody to Metro Vancouver's rapid-transit network. If your last impression of the area was “nice, but you'd need a car for everything,” that hasn't been true for years.

Running east from the interchange at Lougheed Town Centre, the line adds six stations through the heart of the Tri-Cities:

• Burquitlam — western Coquitlam, minutes from Lougheed and SFU-bound connections
• Moody Centre — Port Moody's Brewers Row and heritage core (also a West Coast Express stop)
• Inlet Centre — Newport Village and Eagle Ridge Hospital
• Coquitlam Central — the regional hub, next to Coquitlam Centre mall and the bus loop (also a West Coast Express stop)
• Lincoln — Lafarge Lake and the Coquitlam city centre high-rises
• Lafarge Lake–Douglas — the eastern terminus, at Douglas College and Town Centre Park

Because the Evergreen segment is part of the Millennium Line, it doesn't run directly to the downtown Waterfront. You ride west to Commercial–Broadway (or connect at Lougheed) and step across the platform to the Expo Line for downtown. In practice it's one easy transfer, and trains arrive every few minutes in peak periods.

How long is the SkyTrain commute, really?

Here are realistic door-to-platform travel times from each Tri-Cities station to the destinations most commuters actually care about. Treat them as typical, not guaranteed — a missed transfer or a service delay moves the needle.

Approximate SkyTrain travel times based on TransLink schedules, mid-2026. Confirm current times at translink.ca before relying on them.

Not everyone is heading downtown. For a lot of Tri-Cities buyers the real destinations are in Burnaby — and those are faster. Brentwood and Metrotown are roughly 20–30 minutes by SkyTrain, and Simon Fraser University connects by a quick bus from Production Way–University or from Burquitlam. If you work in the Lougheed corridor, you're often at your desk in under 20 minutes.

The West Coast Express: the commuter's quiet advantage

If your working hours line up with rush hour, the West Coast Express is the most comfortable way into the city. It's a weekday-only commuter rail line — five westbound trains each weekday morning to Waterfront, five eastbound each afternoon — with stops at Moody Centre, Coquitlam Central and Port Coquitlam.

You get a guaranteed seat, tables, and a calm 25-to-35-minute ride into the downtown core: roughly 25 minutes from Port Moody, about 30 from Coquitlam Central, and around 34 from Port Coquitlam. The trade-off is rigidity. There are no midday, evening, or weekend trains, so it suits a predictable 9-to-5 far better than shift work or a flexible schedule. When the timing fits, though, nothing else in the region beats it for comfort.

Driving and the highway network

Even committed transit riders drive sometimes, and the Tri-Cities' road access is genuinely good. Highway 1 runs along the southern edge with interchanges at the Cape Horn and Brunette corridors; the Lougheed Highway and Barnet Highway carry you west toward Burnaby and Vancouver; and the Pitt River and Golden Ears bridges open up Maple Ridge and the eastern Fraser Valley.

Rough off-peak driving times from central Coquitlam: about 30–40 minutes to downtown Vancouver, 20–25 minutes to New Westminster (and Royal Columbian Hospital), 20–25 minutes to the Burnaby town centres, and 20–30 minutes up to SFU. Add meaningful time in rush hour — the Highway 1 approach to the city can double during the worst of it, which is exactly why so many locals default to the train.

Match the neighbourhood to your commute

The smartest way to buy in the Tri-Cities is to decide how you want to commute first, then shop the neighbourhoods that support it.

If you want to live car-light and walk to the train, look at the station areas: Burquitlam, Moody Centre, Inlet Centre and Newport Village, and the Coquitlam city centre around Lougheed and Lincoln. These are mostly condos and townhomes within a short walk of a platform — the tightest commutes in the region.

If a family-sized home matters more than a walkable platform, the detached neighbourhoods trade a few minutes of driving for space and schools: Burke Mountain, Westwood Plateau, and Heritage Mountain. From these, you drive or take a frequent bus down to Coquitlam Central or Lafarge Lake–Douglas — usually 10 to 15 minutes — and pick up the train there.

What transit access means when you buy

Walkable transit isn't just a lifestyle perk; it shapes who your future buyers will be. Homes within a short walk of a SkyTrain station draw from a wider pool — downsizers who no longer want to drive, professionals commuting to Burnaby and Vancouver, and investors who know tenants pay for the location. That doesn't guarantee any particular return, but a genuinely walkable commute is one of the few features you can't renovate into a home later.

If you're weighing a station-area condo against a detached home up the hill, that's exactly the kind of trade-off worth talking through against your actual commute, budget, and timeline. That's the conversation I have with buyers every week — and it's a lot more useful in twenty focused minutes than in twenty open browser tabs.

Frequently asked questions