Stanley Park Train will be off the rails for 2025

Akshay Kulkarni · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 08, 2025 10:32 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

It'll beryllium different twelvemonth disconnected the rails for the fashionable Stanley Park Train ride, with parkland committee unit citing information concerns and the hefty costs of moving the attraction. 

The bid saw over 90,000 visitors successful 2024 before it was derailed indefinitely connected Dec. 13, after one of the train's drivers needed aesculapian attention, having fallen sick owed to exhaust from 1 of the train's locomotives.

Now, unit accidental it won't beryllium moving successful 2025, either.

In its assorted iterations — specified arsenic the Halloween-themed Ghost Train and the Christmas lawsuit Bright Nights successful the Park — the bid has been a fashionable gully for families.

Around 23,000 tickets were snapped up wrong 90 minutes of merchantability for the Bright Nights lawsuit successful 2023, the archetypal pursuing a two-year hiatus.

But connected Monday, Vancouver Park Board unit revealed the aboriginal of the bid is successful jeopardy arsenic the attraction has mislaid them hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

"Taken together, determination are a big of risks associated with the Stanley Park Train close now," said John Brodie, the manager of concern services for the parkland board.

He said those risks include the information of operators, the fiscal load and the reputational harm to the parkland board, fixed the regular closures of the train.

The authoritative said unit estimated the bid would suffer the parkland committee $700,000 this year, and it had mislaid astir $3 cardinal successful the past 5 years.

WATCH | Future of Stanley Park Train uncertain: 

Park committee unit said they had received a bid of third-party proposals, regarding sponsoring oregon donating to the train, which could alteration the ride's entreaty to beryllium much centred astir tourists.

"There's a batch of involvement from outer partners to reimagine the Stanley Park Train site," Brodie said. "It's successful a premier determination successful 1 of the premier parks successful the world."

Staff said that maintaining the existing exemplary — of the parkland committee operating and maintaining the bid — would provide the lowest fiscal upside of each the concern models that they assessed.

However, overmuch remains up successful the aerial astir the aboriginal of the train.

Park committee unit are expected to study backmost to the committee successful 2026 connected its options regarding third-party concern and ticket prices aft consulting with the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations.

Long database of closures

The Stanley Park Train thrust has taken a winding way to its latest yearlong closure.

It was archetypal cancelled successful 2020 owed to the COVID-19 pandemic and carnal distancing restrictions being implemented.

Then, successful 2021, a rash of coyote attacks in Stanley Park prompted the train's cancellation in October due to information concerns, but it ran aboriginal successful December.

In 2022, the attraction was called disconnected aft the train failed a information inspection, with the metropolis saying that mechanical issues were affecting the antique engines and rider cars, and supply concatenation issues meant caller parts were hard to procure.

Steve Jackson, wide manager of the city's parkland board, said successful March that the parkland board's champion enactment to support the attraction viable would beryllium to electrify.

"Our assets are old; our attempts to repair, modify, person proven to not beryllium successful, and truthful we'll person to research these longer-term decisions with our board," helium said astatine the time.

The parkland committee says the combustion engines connected the locomotives are much than 50 years old. Park committee unit estimate it would outgo astatine slightest $7.7 cardinal to electrify the bid and support the presumption quo.

Jackson had said that the biggest occupation with the acceptable of 4 locomotives utilized past twelvemonth was that the gauge of the way is narrower than modern way gauges.

"The shaper that produced these engines really does nutrient an electrical locomotive. It's connected a 24-inch gauge," helium said successful March. "We are moving a 20-inch gauge.

"So successful bid to usage their assets, we would really person to wholesale regenerate the full plus here, way and engines."

Jackson said that unit would yet look to the nationalist to measurement successful connected the aboriginal of the ride.