Medium Large Transport; Low Wing; 2 Turbojet Eng
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Situational Awareness
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Incursion Runway
Flight Crew Became Reoriented
Chart Or Publication; Weather; Human Factors; Airport
Arriving at the aircraft; we were rushed to get things done due the a late van; customs; getting food before our long flight; a lengthy maintenance reset procedure while boarding; as well as normal crappy weather. I am also relatively new to the [aircraft type] and have only been to CYVR once before; never on a departure leg. As such; the Captain (CA) and I slowed down and did what I thought was pretty thorough preflight briefing which included discussing the fact that YVR has many variable taxi routes to get to the runway; a ground frequency change; a runway crossing; and a hotspot at that runway crossing. The brief then continued on with the takeoff procedure; the noise abatement procedure; general Canadian differences; etc.We taxied from the gate and down taxiway L to 8R without incident; but we did discuss how difficult it was to distinguish where you were on the airport due to low lighting; bad weather; and inadequate signage and lighting. While taxing up to 8R; the aircraft in front of us was cleared for takeoff and the CA called for the before takeoff check to the line. As I was performing my flow; I noticed a slight bit of color passing my window; which ended up being the 8R hold short bars. We hit the brakes and came to a stop; but not before crossing the bars about 15-20 feet. Before we could advise tower that we had inadvertently crossed the bars; they cleared us to line up and wait. At no time was safety in jeopardy; as we were well back from the runway and the aircraft that was taking off. Finally; upon taxing to line up; we almost exited taxiway L due to the fact that it curls around and becomes 8R; rather than it abutting the runway side edge like every other runway. We were paying attention to lining up with the centerline of the runway we thought we were on.I believe this situation was caused by a multitude of factors. The easiest and single most obvious factor is that the hold position bar is located 100 to 150 feet back from the 'usual' position on the turn towards the runway rather than on the area perpendicular to it (complacency; expectancy). Also; just as important is the inadequate lighting and signage of the runway hold short bars; especially at the farthest; darkest reach of a major Canadian airport. In the US; we are used to large; internally lit red signs placed adjacent to the hold line as well as flashing lights both above ground (at most airports) and in pavement (at major airports like YVR). There is no such lighting or signage on the hold line for 8R; or if there is; it wasn't turned on. Since I never actually saw it; I can imply from the other airport signage that the runway sign is small and lit so that only the runway number is lit; and so blends in with the taxiway edge lights. Being way out by the water; the end of 8R is a very dark place at night. With how often it rains there; I would think they would know that at night; it is nearly impossible to see normal paint on wet asphalt. Add to that the fact that the [aircraft] taxi lights do a very poor job of lighting up the area in front of the aircraft; and we didn't see the painted lines until we were passing over them.These same factors also contributed to us almost exiting L while turning on to the runway. There is concrete on both sides of the taxiway (similar to a runway threshold); but no reflective paint or taxiway edge lighting to indicate that you're still on a taxiway or that the taxiway turns. There aren't even any runway threshold lights to indicate the beginning of the runway.The second major factor I see is inadequate attention being brought to this whole situation on the [airport diagram]. As stated in the narrative; we knew we were being rushed and intentionally slowed down and paid attention to our preflight briefing so as to catch up mentally to what was going on. On the [airport diagram]; there are two hot spots that discuss hold bars being displaced at other points on the airport. As such; we briefed HS1 which was along our taxi route; but did not notice the depiction of the hold short line being displaced backwards at 8R. We also did not notice the way that L curls around to become 8R. Other contributing factors include it being nighttime with reduced visibility and rain; being rushed; and it being a very early flight including Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) checks.I strongly suggest that a hotspot circle be placed around the entire approach end of 8R on the [airport diagram] chart which discusses the hold short line being displaced backwards. I also suggest that this hotspot mention the fact that taxiway L in fact curls around and becomes 8R after the turn; rather than you turning directly onto the runway. I could easily see someone taxing off the taxiway; initiating a takeoff while still on a taxiway; or at the very least being surprised by expecting runway markings and lighting but only finding taxiway markings out their window (like we did). Being surprised by something just before takeoff is not a good thing. Finally; I would also suggest that you convince Transport Canada to increase their usage of high visibility signage; lighting; and reflective paint throughout the country; but especially at 8R in Vancouver (good luck with that).
A First Officer laments the lack of brightly lit signage during taxi via Taxiway L to Runway 8R at CYVR.