Abbotsford News – RegionA?ai??i??ai???s mayors will be left waiting for SkyTrain
RegionA?ai??i??ai???s mayors will be left waiting for SkyTrain
Published: October 07, 2010 11:00 AM
Updated: October 07, 2010 11:22 AM
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On Monday, Rail for the Valley and Leewood Projects (UK) released a historic and revolutionary TramTrain report for Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.
The TramTrain plan is historic, for it is the first time in over 30 years that a transit study, independent of political and bureaucratic influence has been released to the public, giving an affordable option to TransLinkA?ai??i??ai???s expensive SkyTrain light metro planning.
The TramTrain plan is revolutionary because it gives economic 21st century transit solutions for the region, instead of costly and dated 1950s metro and subway planning.
TramTrain is a reinvention of the interurban and is part of the large light rail family, which sees over 450 such systems in operation around the world. First operated in Karlsruhe Germany in 1993, the new TramTrain proved so successful that ridership on the new TramTrain line (which replaced a commuter train and one transfer) exploded from 533,600 per week to over 2,555,000, (almost 480% increase) in just a few months! Karlsruhe now operates over 410 km of TramTrain, including lines in the environmentally sensitive Black Forest, with the longest route being over 210 km.
As TramTrain is inexpensive to build, TramTrain lines do not need the massive densification needed by SkyTrain and the RAV/Canada Line. TramTrain can pass through sensitive ALR lands, leaving farm lands as they are, and preventing rampant land speculation and development that more expensive transit modes need to sustain them.
The Rail for the Valley/Leewood plan also gives glimpse in the future with the initial line expanding to Vancouver, Richmond and Rosedale.
Why build the 11 km., $1.4 billion plus SkyTrain Evergreen Line, when we can build a full 138 km Vancouver/Richmond to Rosedale TramTrain service for under $1 billion, with enough money left over to build a Vancouver to Maple Ridge TramTrain service, as TransLink planned for in the late 1990s.
Today there are 14 cities with TramTrain operation (only 7 cities have SkyTrain), with a further 20 TramTrain operations being planned for.
One hopes the the regionA?ai??i??ai???s mayors board the TramTrain for better public transit. If not, they will be left behind at the station, waiting for a SkyTrain that will never come.
Malcolm Johnston
Light Rail Committee
via Abbotsford News – RegionA?ai??i??ai???s mayors will be left waiting for SkyTrain.
