New TramTrains for Manchester?

As interest in TramTrain grows abroad, we are left with Translink’s SkyTrain only planning. The lack of flexibility of SkyTrain will soon hamstring our urban rail system under the weight of massive subsidies and debt serving costs. TramTrain, first designed to make transit more user friendly, by eliminating transfers, now seems to be the affordable [...]

How Not to Be left At Station, For A Train That Will Never Come

A letter sent to the Mayor and council’s of the Two Langley’s and Delta, sent by Malcolm Johnston, on Jan. 2, 2019.   “One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the [...]

Common Sense Transit Planning From Patrick Condon. Oh, Yes And From Rail For The Valley

Hats off to Professor Patrick Condon for this! The mayor of Surrey may wish he had kept his mouth shut about light rail and SkyTrain. Oh, he will get his toy train to Fleetwood, no doubt, but after that fiscal reality will hit like a Tsunami. From the Tyee Dear Surrey Mayor McCallum. Congratulations on [...]

Talking Though One’s Hat – Doug McCallum on SkyTrain

Talking through one’s hat,  definition: Talk nonsense; especially on a subject that one professes to be knowledgeable about but in fact is ignorant of. This is exactly what former Surrey mayor and current morality candidate, Doug McCallum is doing. As  Mr. Cow, our expert from Ontario, said; ” You can expand SkyTrain to  Langley, there [...]

The Whiterock King George Whalley LRT – Revisited & Updated

First published in 2011, the concept of the Whalley King George Whiterock Line, operating in conjunction with the Rail for the Valley’s Leewood Study TramTrain would bring an affordable and successful 21st century public transportation solutions to Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. It has has been seven years year since I entertained the idea [...]

TramTrain – It’s Time To Have A Serious Look At The Leewood Project For a Valley Passenger Rail Servcie

As the Surrey LRT slowly gather’s steam, it seems the regional taxpayer is paying a lot of money for very little. Despite the hype and hoopla about the Surrey LRT, does not do anything really, just provide a somewhat faster trip to the nearest SkyTrain station if you want to cross the Fraser. It has [...]

How America Killed Transit – How the Americans (and we) Are Getting it Wrong

I think the author, a PHD candidate, seems unread on what modern light rail is. He still defines light rail vehicles, different than a streetcar Memo to PHD candidate: it is not the vehicle, but the quality of rights-of-way, that defines LRT. His comment; “And though cheaper to build, light rail lines are often too [...]

The $11 billion Solution!

It seems our politicians and political wannabees are living in a financial ennui. The massive costs of our current transit planning are being ignored, with the rah, rah rant of the various rapid transit promoters glossing over the real costs of their various pet projects. Our so called experts ignore the costs and it is [...]

€300 (CAD $455) Million For 25 km of New Tram Line

€300 converts to CAD $455 million for 24km of tram line or about CAD $18.2km per km to build. This of course does not include vehicles or a maintenance depot, but does give a good indication of the cost for an economy light rail line to be built in Metro Vancouver. Even if the total [...]

Delusion Drives SkyTrain Planning South of the Fraser

The old fogies of politics are now driving the change from LRT to SkyTrain in Surrey. The same old lies. The same old deceit. The same old ignorance is now gaining control of regional transit south of the Fraser, as it has done in the rest of Metro Vancouver. The SkyTrain Lobby doesn’t care about [...]