Broadway Subway Trains Start Rolling: What Late 2027 Opening Means for Mount Pleasant, Kitsilano & Arbutus Buyers

The first test train is now rolling on the Broadway Subway. On May 29, 2026, provincial officials including Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth joined media for a ride-along on two retired Mark I SkyTrain cars—the 013 and 014 units—traveling along the new 0.7-km elevated guideway through False Creek Flats. This marks the beginning of dynamic testing for SkyTrain's 5.7-km Millennium Line extension from VCC-Clark Station to Arbutus Street, a $2.95-billion project that has now shifted from construction to systems verification. The initial testing covers approximately two kilometers of track between the elevated segment west of VCC-Clark and a short underground portion west of the new Great Northern Way-Emily Carr Station, the most advanced section where running rails, power rails, and linear induction motor strips are fully installed.

For real estate watchers, the significance is timing and certainty. Minister Farnworth specified for the first time that the extension will open in late Fall 2027—technically as late as the third week of December 2027. This gives buyers, sellers, and investors a firm 17-month horizon. The project will add six new stations: Great Northern Way-Emily Carr, Mount Pleasant, Broadway-City Hall, Oak-VGH, South Granville, and Arbutus. A full ride from Commercial-Broadway to Arbutus will take 12 minutes, with 11 minutes from VCC-Clark to Arbutus. The extension will carry over three times the capacity of the current 99 B-Line bus service. Meanwhile, construction crews have begun removing temporary traffic decks over station sites, with Broadway between Main and Quebec streets already reopened after a four-month closure, and only one more full closure planned at Cambie Street after the FIFA World Cup.