For the past five years, Translink or the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority, has been planning to renew its SkyTrain train fleet by bringing new generation trains and integrating them into the system.

Sadly, as part of this plan, Translink is also planning to remove the first generation trains, or Mark I cars, and completely phase them out in a few years. 

This petition is for Translink to at least preserve some of the Mark I cars due to their great historical and cultural value. Some reports say that the cars may be submerged in the ocean to create artificial reefs. While this is a great idea, we think it would not make sense to scrap or dump all of the Mark I cars into the ocean as they are important piece of Vancouver’s history. More specifically, we petition Translink to:

1. Keep car #001 as this was the first car built and put in service.
2. Keep car #049. Car #049 was the car that opened the SkyTrain on December 11, 1986.
3. Keep a 1991 car that has its classic Expo 86 red and blue livery.
4. Keep a 1995 car because it would complete the Mark I fleet and preserve each one of the Mark I models for posterity. 

We think the people of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland deserve to have a piece of their history preserved and available for future generations. We hope this petition helps Translink to preserve their own history and hopefully make it available to all those who love the Mark I cars and their contribution to the story of the city.