New TransLink customer service centre opens to public at Waterfront Station

TransLink officials unveil the company's new Customer Service Centre at Waterfront Station on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022. (TransLink)

TransLink's new, 6,200-square-foot Customer Service Centre at Waterfront Station opened to the public Friday, roughly doubling the transit provider's capacity to serve users in person.

The new centre replaces the previous in-person service centre at Stadium Chinatown Station, which has closed. All of its services are now available at the new centre, except for TransLink's Lost Property Centre, which is still at Stadium Chinatown.

“We need to be more available to our customers when and where they need assistance, and that’s why we are moving our Customer Service Centre to Waterfront Station which is located at the intersection of every one of our transit modes,” said TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn in a news release Thursday.

“Moving our customer service facility to this prime location opens new opportunities for us to elevate customer experiences, create more meaningful connections, and build ridership.”

TransLink noted that the new location is the only one in the regional transit system that serves all of its modes of transportation, including SkyTrain, bus, SeaBus and West Coast Express.

"Adjacent to Canada Place, Helijet, and the cruise ship terminal, Waterfront Station is also a common destination for tourists, who can now more easily access customer service and Compass products," the company's statement reads.

The interior of TransLink's new customer service centre is shown. (TransLink)

Transit users can use the new facility to speak to customer service employees in person, purchase and activate Compass products, get wayfinding advice through the facility's touch-screen transit kiosk, pay fare infraction tickets, purchase taxi savers, and sign up and get keys for bike lockers on TransLink's system.

The new centre is located next to Starbucks, near the main entrance to Waterfront Station on Cordova Street, and will be staffed by 30 employees, including the West Coast Express Operations Centre. It will be open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

TransLink said moving the customer service centre to Waterfront Station was part of its Customer Experience Action Plan, which is intended to make transit "easier to navigate" and "to create more opportunities for customer service."