The new Canada Line SkyTrain started running last month much to everyone’s excitement (well, almost everyone). Up to 85,000 people lined up to ride the train the first day it opened, and it’s had a steady stream of commuters since than.

The train connects downtown Vancouver to the airport and Richmond.

I like going to Richmond, except it always seems so far away with the traffic, bridges and not to mention I always manage to get lost.

Aberdeen Centre is my favourite shopping destinations in Richmond and the train promises to get me there in just 20 minutes.

We decided to test this theory out the first weekend of the train’s debut.

We started out at the Vancouver City Centre Station which we accessed through the Pacific Centre Mall.

We stopped at the Olympic Village for about 10 minutes, we heard over the intercom that the line was experiencing delays.

We got out, the train left us and we took another train headed for the airport, a quick tour of the airport route later we got off at Bridgeport to change to a Richmond bound train.

We waited for another 30 minutes, the crowds grew, people got impatient and the intercom kept announcing the delays.

Finally the train came and Aberdeen Centre was the next stop.

Coming back was much smoother and pleasant.

We also caught the ‘Return of the First Emperor’ exhibition at Aberdeen Centre, an amazing sand sculpture of the Great Wall of China with life-size terracotta warriors and horses