TransLink's new IPA raises a glass to Vancouver's retiring Mark I SkyTrain cars

TransLink is raising a glass to the original SkyTrain fleet, which is gradually leaving the system.

The transit authority has partnered with Steel & Oak Brewing Co. Of New Westminster on Rolling Stock Mark I West Coast IPA, a limited-edition craft beer inspired by the Mark I cars. The can design borrows from the original BC Transit livery of red and blue stripes on white, the look of the trains that carried generations of riders on the Expo and Millennium lines.

The Mark I was the first SkyTrain vehicle model used on the system, which began with the first segment of what is now the Expo Line, built for Expo '86. TransLink is retiring all 150 Mark I trains, which entered service between the 1980s and early 1990s. They are being replaced by the Mark V fleet, whose testing is now fully complete. TransLink ordered 47 five-car Mark V trains, and the final train from that order arrives in 2029.

Steel & Oak plans to brew about 5,000 litres of the West Coast IPA, a limited run of about 1,250 four-packs. The beer goes on sale Friday, November 13, 2026, at the Steel & Oak brewery and tasting room in New Westminster and at select Metro Vancouver liquor stores while supplies last. It will also be on tap at participating restaurants across the region.

Merchandise is part of the release too: trucker hats, T-shirts, stickers, tote bags and pins, made by New Westminster-based PBJ Merch Co. And sold through Steel & Oak. A portion of beer and merchandise sales returns to TransLink as revenue. This is TransLink's second beer tie-in, after a 2025 pilsner with Patina Brewing that marked 30 years of the West Coast Express.

"There's something special about the original SkyTrain cars," TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn said in a statement. "They've been part of Metro Vancouver for 40 years, and people still love them."

For riders who have shared a car with these trains for decades, the retirement is already part of the daily commute. The shelf price has not been published, and TransLink has not said when the sale period ends.