Instead of “Heavy” Rail, Let’s Try “Very Light” Rail

Interesting news from the Light Rail Transit Association – Very Light Rail. Very Light Rail is a LRT variant where smaller and lighter vehicles are used on routes that cannot support operation of larger vehicles. The costs for Very Light Rail is something to consider, especially when Vancouver is spending $2.8 billion to build 5.8 [...]

Cut And Cover Subway Construction, Coming to Broadway?

  The following was sent to Zwei this week and it poses some interesting questions, but first a comment from our friend Mr. Haveacow, responding to the comment in the April 2, 2019 post; “Toronto’s 6.2 KM Scarborough Subway Costs Soar To $3.9 Billion – What Will be The Real Cost Of The BS Line?” [...]

Reality Is A ……………………….

There is another reason why transit may not return to pre Covid-19 levels any time soon; a reason that TransLink would never admit to: the service provided by TransLink is deemed third rate by customers. User friendliness is the number one reason people use transit and includes ease ticketing, lack of transfers, and the general [...]

Comparisons

Let us make a comparison. In B.C., we are spending $4.6 billion to extend the Expo and Millennium Line’s a mere 12.8 km, while in the UK, £1.2 billion (CAD $2.04 billion) is being spent t0 reopen four rail lines (this means completely rehabbing and re signalling the lines); upgrading three rail lines for improved [...]

When Driving: Be kind, Be forgiving, Be Sane – A Note From Zwei.

  After driving in and around Metro Vancouver in the past few weeks, the standard of driving is just terrible. It seems that the Covid-19 debacle has made driving idiots out of us all. I have witnessed not fewer than 10 incidents in the past week that would have lead to tragedy, by drivers who, [...]

Never On A Friday

When government wants to bury an embarrassing news release, they release it on a Friday and hopes no one notices. Well, the BC government announced the preferred “proponent team” for the Broadway subway and the Surrey Expo Line extensions today, Friday, July 17. Interesting! I will not go into the pitfalls of the projects as [...]

Germany To Reopen 4,000 km of Closed Railway Lines

What is happening elsewhere is not happening here. Instead, in BC government is squandering  billions of dollars on uneconomic ‘rapid transit‘ lines to suit their electoral and bureaucratic needs. “Rapid Transit is needed infrastructure” is the claim by government, except the politicians making the decisions do not have a clue what rapid transit is or [...]

Motherhood And Apple Pie

Rail for the Valley has been long warning the public about the costs of  subway and light-metro construction costs, which fell on mainly deaf ears. Rapid transit is a “ motherhood and apple pie” subject and the mainstream media will not report negative news about SkyTrain, light-metro and the real costs involved. The “other guys” [...]

TransLink’s Fear Of The Future And “The Interurban”

  From Wiki: Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail, metro, subway, tube, U-Bahn, metropolitana or underground, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas.Unlike buses or trams, rapid transit systems are electric railways that operate on an exclusive right-of-way, which cannot be accessed by pedestrians [...]

TransLink Doubles Down on Rapid Transit

TransLink, is the study of dichotomy. While the rest of the world has deemed light metro (including our SkyTrain light-metro system) obsolete because of cost and functionality, TransLink happily spends massive amounts of money planning and building more. Hint: Only seven of the now called proprietary Movia Automatic Light Metro system (as used on the [...]