Waterfront
The original West Coast Express Port Moody Station was renamed Moody Centre because of the construction of the new SkyTrain Evergreen Extension. This extension also saw access to the West Coast Express platform completely change, although the bones of the original platform are still there including some sets of a few steps now down to nowhere off the platform. This warrants a separate page for this station, considering the new station is so fundamentally different from the old one. These changes to the West Coast Express station were caused by the SkyTrain extension where the new SkyTrain line built along a ROW at ground-level and directly parallel to the CN Line with two tracks, and single West Coast Express platform. The SkyTrain alignment and station today is along what was the station’s small bus loop and Kiss & Ride drop-off area.
All access to the new Port Moody Station is via the SkyTrain station mezzanine with West Coast Express passengers leaving the platform via a set of stairs next to a single escalator. There is also an elevator across from these stairs. This new means of entrance and egress is towards the eastern (Mission-bound) end of the West Coast Express platform and is covered by the same faux wood canopy that also covers the SkyTrain station. Passengers first pass Compass Card Targets that West Coast Express passengers are required to Tap On and Tap Off at. These targets register that a passenger traveled from Waterfront Station to Port Moody Station by the more expensive option of the West Coast Express (there are similar Targets beyond the faregates at Waterfront Station too) instead of via the cheaper SkyTrain option. At the extreme western end of the platform is an emergency access only footbridge across the SkyTrain tracks, providing a second and emergency means of egress from the West Coast Express platform.
The fare difference to Waterfront as of August 2024 with a pre-paid Compass card (single-ride compass tickets and contactless payment fares are higher) is $6.96 compared to the $4.90 regular SkyTrain fare. Fares are similarly higher at $5.30 for West Coast Express versus $3.20 for a One Zone SkyTrain ride to Ride West Coast Express the one stop to Coquitlam Central with one intermediate stop riding via SkyTrain. Luckily the West Coast Express fares provide free transfers to and from local buses and SkyTrain (looking at you most legacy East Coast Commuter Rail systems) and passengers who lets say want to take the West Coast Express to transfer to local stops on the Evergreen Extension like LaFarge Lake-Douglas are better off transferring here (and making the extra stop at Inlet Centre) because the connection between the systems is much shorter than at Coquitlam Central.
The rest of the West Coast Express platform is partially the same with the same silver fencing and original lampposts (now painted grey instead of purple) as the original Port Moody Station. The ADA mini-high platform (that requires a bridge plate for wheelchair passengers) is the same, with the platform getting wider to curve around it at the regular low-level platform level. The canopy structures along the platform have been rebuilt with glass canopies instead of the original simple metal ones. The biggest difference is now the long platform is along either a glass wall along the eastern end of the platform where the SkyTrain station is or a high security metal fence along most of the platform to keep passengers off the SkyTrain tracks. The additional gaps in the fence of the platform for entering and exiting passengers are no longer available. Platform signage has all been replaced from the original purple with yellow text to the more legible and modern midnight blue on white with a purple line saying West Coast Express underneath.
Photos 1-30: October 14, 2002; 31-63: October 14, 2022
