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Nanaimo station

Metro Vancouver SkyTrain station

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 23, 2026
Entity authorityQ1440914 ↗
Source-derived summary

Nanaimo is a partially elevated station on the Expo Line of Metro Vancouver's SkyTrain rapid transit system. The station is located on Nanaimo Street between Vanness Avenue and East 24th Avenue in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The station takes its name from Nanaimo Street, which is named after the city of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. Situated on a hillcrest, the station provides riders with a view of the west side and Downtown Vancouver.

History

Nanaimo station was opened in 1985 as part of the original SkyTrain system (now known as the Expo Line). The Austrian architecture firm Architektengruppe U-Bahn was responsible for designing the station.

The station is the westernmost station on the Expo Line that sits atop of the former Central Park Line of the British Columbia Electric Railway. This line formerly ran just west of Nanaimo station to where New Westminster station is located today.

In 2002, Millennium Line service was introduced to the station, which provided outbound service to VCC–Clark station (originally Commercial Drive) via Columbia station in New Westminster. This service was discontinued and replaced with an Expo Line branch to Production Way–University station in 2016.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Nanaimo station” as metro Vancouver SkyTrain station. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Nanaimo, station and Metro.

Editorial reviewA valuable geographic starting point for tracing changing names, boundaries, uses and administrative responsibility. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1985, 2002, 2016—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1985-12-11. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Nanaimo, station and Metro providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Nanaimo station”, the useful work is to connect “metro Vancouver SkyTrain station” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1440914. Authority coordinates are 49.248, -123.056. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1985, 2002 and 2016.

Critical limits

Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Nanaimo station”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Nanaimo station primary sources, Nanaimo station archive and Nanaimo research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Nanaimo station”?
  2. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
  3. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Nanaimo station” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.