Light Rail News Round Up

Some news about LRT and transit from the USA and Europe. Houston http://triptotheouthouse.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/metrorail-houston.jpg Ai??Ai??http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kC5MT2r5U8s/Sl4F-NXBl6I/AAAAAAAALDo/Xc0hZryKsgk/s1600-h/Houston+METRORail.jpg Ai??Ai??http://www.flickr.com/photos/16638697@N00/186998827 Ai??Ai??Oslo http://i46.tinypic.com/11j43s4.jpg Ai??Ai??http://lh6.ggpht.com/_-sUKhyFR7PM/RrxuaQKw-FI/AAAAAAAABus/hVt9hZCtBaw/IMG_1897.JPG TAMPA – More than a decade ago, Phoenix baseball officials showcased a video of their state of the art ballpark during a lavish Tampa Bay reception, overwhelming the home team’s introduction of Tropicana Field. Local business and […]

Transit Blogs

Well, if you are stuck inside due to our heavy rain, here are some interesting transit blogs to peruse. You may not have come across some of these before: http://www.andrewgrantham.co.uk/ Ai??Ai??http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2010-05-04/article/35212?headline=Against-BRT-Streets-are-for-People-Not-Buses Ai??Ai??http://www.cahsrblog.com/ Ai??Ai??http://capntransit.blogspot.com/2009/03/feds-relax-restrictions-for-light-rail.html Ai??Ai??http://www.friendsoftheotrain.org/ Ai??Ai??http://urbanmilwaukee.com/2008/07/14/milwaukee-transit-the-technologies/ Ai??Ai??http://www.pdxtransit.com/index.php/2009/08/14/the-o-train-ottawas-light-rail/ Ai??Ai??http://theoverheadwire.blogspot.com/ Ai??Ai??http://melbpt.wordpress.com/tram-construction-costs/ Ai??Ai??http://stevemunro.ca/ Ai??Ai??http://transport514.wordpress.com/

As Predicted – "Mayors consider raising taxes to pay for TransLink"

Ai??Ai??As predicted yesterday: TransLink is in a conundrum; there is no money for new metro expansion and the bureaucracy refuses to plan for much cheaper light rail. There is no way out, either taxes must increase to pay for metro constructionAi??Ai??or the transit system stagnates and becomes even more unattractive product for customers. It seems […]

Mayors, Premier and Transportation Minister to meet next week – The Blind Leading the Blind

Talk about the blind leading the blind. BC Transportation Minister, Shirley Bond (who knows little or nothing about transit), the besieged premier (who knows that building glitzy metro lines buys votes), and regional mayors (who are equally unread on transit) are going to have a private meeting regarding TransLink’s ongoing financial crisis. The first hing […]

European News

ALSTOM ORDER FOR RATP LINE T3 Alstom has received zamA?A?wnienie for 25 tramsAi??Ai??for Paris.Ai??Ai??Twenty-fiveAi??Ai??Citadis trams ordered a French Alstom RATP – the operator of public transport in Paris. Warehouses to be delivered in 2012.Ai??Ai?? The Alstom order was announced today an option agreement signed in December 2003 . Its value is EUR 77 million, along […]

Shaw Cable Documentary

An excellent Shaw documentary focussedAi??Ai??entirelyAi??Ai??on the potential of the old BC Electric rail line running through the Fraser Valley will be shown over the next few weeks. The times are shown below. Among other things the documentary features a helicopter ride along the Fraser Valley and interviews with Township of Langley Mayor Rick Green and […]

Toronto’s Transit Follies – It Must Be Election Time!

Vancouver is not the only Canadian City to suffer political silliness before election time, asAi??Ai??regional councilAi??Ai??candidates are all tabling their transportation plans, if elected. The subway lobby is preaching their gospel of underground railways to everywhere, but come up short on how to pay for such extravagance. It seems like TransLink’s grand SkyTrain plansAi??Ai??most of […]

Off The Rails – From the Abby Times

An interesting tome in the Abbotsford Times. Anyone wanting to put ‘rail’ transit down the median of the number 1 highway forgets that it would be hugely expensive and the curvature and gradients along the route would mean very expensive engineering would have to be done. Going ‘greenfields’ construction is always an expensive propositionAi??Ai??which knowledgeable […]

TransLink in the news! SkyTrain Fizzles and the Head Amateur resigns!

Debris on the guideway evidently caused the Expo Line to come to grief during the morning commute. Once again, the automatic (driverless) metro shows its vulnerability when surprises happen along the line. SkyTrain’s Expo Line problems caused by debris hitting track ReBy Rhiannon Coppin, Vancouver Sun – September 10, 2010 11:10 AM METRO VANCOUVER – […]

The SkyTrain Lobby – Just The Usual Suspects!

Transit again is making front page news in the dailies and regional newspapers, with TransLink claiming that the next big rapid transit (read SkyTrain) line will be in Surrey, not Broadway. A few international transit blogs have picked up the storyAi??Ai??with the usual suspects singing hosannas about SkyTrain, while in the same breathe libeling anyone […]