SkyTrain “Stutters” – Craps Out Again
I only thought people stutter, but evidently not as TransLink claims "stuttering" has caused SkyTrain to shutdown periodically.
Metro Vancouver hit by windstorm; SkyTrain, West Coast Express, ferries all facing disruptions
Vancouver Sun
VANCOUVER – The heavy rain and fierce windstorm that struck Metro Vancouver overnight is wreaking havoc with the commute on Tuesday morning.
As of 6 a.m., transit services around the region have almost all be delayed by the weather. West Coast Express had to cancel its first train this morning after a tree fell onto the tracks at Albion. Delays are expected for the second train, as well.
Meanwhile, spot traffic outages are disrupting traffic lights at some locations, leading to generally slower traffic flows.
SkyTrain is faring no better – the rain and wind is causing the train system to stutter, causing significant delays.
B.C. Ferries has also cancelled two sailings on the Tsawwassen to Duke Point route – the 5:15 a.m. leaving from Tsawwassen and the 7:45 a.m. leaving from Nanaimo.
© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun
VOTE THIS SATURDAY
Does Translink’s wet leaf excuse hold water?
At first glance, TransLink’s excuse for SkyTrain going kaput last Saturday, may explain why the mini-metro stopped dead in its tracks. But there is a problem – SkyTrain is an unconventional railway, powered by Linear Induction Motors or LIM’s and there is no power transmitted to the wheels at all, thus no wheel slip.
It is true that the oily paste caused by Autumn’s leaf fall causes havoc with many transit systems, causing annual headaches for operating staff. The oily leaf sludge causes wheel-slip with powered wheels, which SkyTrain does not have.
Added to this mix is that SkyTrain’s automatic train control counts wheel revolutions as part of its automatic train control system, but again SkyTrain’s wheels are not powered and the chances of wheel slip is almost nil.
It is my opinion that TransLink is still in the dark why the Expo Line failed on Saturday and for want of a better excuse is using the annual leaf fall season to cover-up the real problem, a problem that TransLink refuses to acknowledge or is still completely in the dark as to what has happened.
Wet leaves blamed for Saturday’s shut-down of SkyTrain’s Expo line
By Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver SunServices on the Expo and Millennium lines were completely restored by Saturday afternoon following disruptions that lasted several hours. Bus bridges remain in place in several places to deal with passenger backlog.
Photograph by: Arlen Redekop, PNG files
METRO VANCOUVER — An unusually heavy buildup of leaves is being blamed for a lengthy shutdown of the SkyTrain system last weekend.
The Expo line was closed for six hours on Saturday morning, following a heavy storm Friday night that brought rain, hail and wind gusts of up to 100 kilometres an hour to Metro Vancouver, disrupting ferry service and sending leaves and other debris into the air.
Fred Cummings, president and general manager of B.C. Rapid Transit Co. (BCRTC), which operates the Expo and Millennium lines, said the high winds deposited a large volume of leaves on the SkyTrain guideway. The weight of the trains turned some of the leaves on the tracks into a oily paste, causing the wheels on some trains to skid, and prompting the SkyTrain system to shut down automatically for safety reasons.
“It was an unusual combination of events: high winds driving leaves into the guideway, and then heavy rains soaking them into a mass that collected on the cars’ wheel assemblies,” Cummings said.
Cummings said this is the first time in 26 years that a buildup of leaves has caused such a major disruption to the transit system. “It’s like they all come down at once,” he said.
The system has experienced smaller events in the past, he said, particularly on the stretch between Royal Oak and Edmonds before the trees there were cut back.
BCRTC had initially thought the shutdown was caused by a software glitch, before an analysis determined that the oily substance on the wheels was crushed leaves.
Cummings apologized to passengers for the lengthy delays, and said BCRTC will be looking for ways to better respond to similar situations in the future.
He noted that if another windstorm hits, the company may have employees manually inspect the tracks or run trains all night long A?ai??i??ai??? similar to what’s done now in a snowstorm A?ai??i??ai??? to ensure there’s no accumulation of leaves.
“It’s one more thing we have to watch for,” he said.
Cummings noted it’s also been determined that all SkyTrain safety systems, including the automatic train communications software, had operated “normally and appropriately during the incident.”
Coast Mountain Bus Company provided a bus bridge to carry passengers between Surrey and New Westminster and between Commercial-Broadway Station and downtown Vancouver. The Millennium Line operated between VCC-Clark and Sapperton stations.
The company estimated the cost in overtime and extra part-time hours was about $15,200 A?ai??i??ai??? approximately $12,000 for BC Rapid Transit Company and $3,200 for Coast Mountain Bus Company.
Light rail vs. SkyTrain expansion: Surrey transit a hot election issue
Well at least there is some discussion about modern LRT, but the SkyTrain lobby remains mute on one very important issue and that is funding. currently the region can afford only afford to build one metro line a decade, with light rail, we can build up to four light rail lines a decade.
If Surrey politicians want SkyTrain in their city, they will be mouldering in their graves before a usable SkyTrain network is achieved, but with LRT a usable network could be had in under twenty years. One SkyTrain Line in Surrey will achieve very little, but if we could build three or more light rail lines for the same amount of money, the the city would be well on its way with gaining a usable LRT network that will actually attract the motorist from the car.
As with all political hyperbole Calgary is not planning that "every future kilometre on their system would be raised," but has fallen victim to land speculators driving up the cost of land, adding $200 million to an already over-engineered LRT plan (let's face it, Engineers tend plan a regional rail project to suit their own RRSP needs, why do they still keep supporting SkyTrain).
The annual death rate on SkyTrain is about two to three times higher than Calgary's LRT and both systems suffers from suicides, either by jumping in front of a train or disobeying stop signals and driving a car into a light rail vehicle. Aspiring politicians should not throw stones at glass houses.
What is true is that politicians who support SkyTrain expansion also support much higher gasoline and property taxes to fund the mini-metro, something they do not admit to at election time.
Light rail vs. SkyTrain expansion: Surrey transit a hot election issue
Read more: http://www.thenownewspaper.com/story.html?id=5709322#ixzz1dsjpJ8Xu
Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts says light rail is the right option for Surrey, but some of her political opponents say SkyTrain expansion is the way to go.
Photograph by: submitted, for Surrey NOW
SURREY – Surrey and Langley mayors are commending Transportation Minister Blair Lekstrom for a letter indicating the provincial government is examining transportation issues south of the Fraser River.
In the letter, Lekstrom states, "We are examining the use of LRT (light rail train) as well as the potential for bus rapid transit and SkyTrain technology to provide frequent, fast and reliable service to communities south of the Fraser River."
He goes on to state that he is "committed to working with the City of Surrey and the communities south of the Fraser through this process."
Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts is confident Lekstrom will create an effective transit network.
"We have been pushing for increased provincial spending on transit in our cities for quite some time, to level the funding inequity both cities are currently experiencing," Watts said in a press release.
"This letter is both an acknowledgement of our issues and a sign that transportation in Surrey will be improving in the future."
Watts said the city has been advocating for light rail transit because it's an "effective and efficient form of transportation. It will allow us to shape our communities and connect our town centres, while at the same time increasing economic development in our city."
Surrey is exploring three light rail transit routes: 104th Avenue between 152nd Street and City Centre; City Centre to Newton, with an extension to South Surrey; and Fraser Highway between City Centre and Langley.
But independent council candidate Paul Griffin said SkyTrain expansion is what the city needs.
Griffin said the mayor's ground rail proposal is second rate, adding that it will create "traffic chaos" and will inconvenience users.
"Calgary tried it," Griffin said of light rail during an all-candidates meeting on Nov. 8. "They had so many accidents and so much traffic congestion that they determined that every future kilometre on their system would be raised," he said.
"We've got to start thinking not only about the people in the public transit system, but about the people who aren't planning to take the public transit system," Griffin added. "They are going to be greatly affected by a ground rail system."
Griffin also said that creating light rail and SkyTrain would cost nearly the same, but light rail could have more operating costs.
But earlier this year, in an interview with the Now, Jeffrey Busby, manager of infrastructure planning for TransLink, said SkyTrain comes at a very high cost.
"Our SkyTrain options range from $900 million for just a short extension all the way up to almost $2 billion," he told the Now in May.
"In terms of the per-kilometre cost of rapid transit, you can get much more of LRT (light rail transit) or BRT (bus rapid transit) for the same level of investment."
Coun. Judy Villeneuve is pro light rail.
"I think it really helps develop a community," Villeneuve said during the Nov. 8 all-candidates meeting.
"Public transportation is so important. Many people in the Lower Mainland move to Surrey because housing is more affordable. But the problem is that there's a real lack of transportation. People can't get around," Villeneuve said.
"The truth is 76 per cent of the people in Surrey commute by car to get to work in Surrey or outside of Surrey. And it's becoming very expensive for people to do that."
Surrey Civic Coalition council hopeful Grant Rice said transit expansion needs to start with rapid bus service on King George Boulevard.
"And we have to do something immediately," Rice said during the all-candidates meeting, pointing out students at Queen Elizabeth Secondary school often wait for two or three buses to come by before they can get on.
"There has to be linkages between our communities because the businesses that are on King George Boulevard need to be serviced. They need to have people get off the bus and do their shopping locally here in Whalley."
Is Surrey is being badly shortchanged on transit?
Is Surrey being shortchanged on transit?
The entire area, South of the Fraser River, has been shortchanged with public transit and still being shortchanged with current transit planning. TransLink's myopic 1950's style of planning doesn't include, nor want to include proven modern public transit technique, such as modern LRT and its cousin Tramtrain.
Tramtrain, a development of modern LRT, allows a tram (or streetcar) to operate not just on its own rights-of-ways, but track-share with mainline railways. Reminiscent of the earlier 'interurbans', Tramtrain allows modern LRT to penetrate areas, which would be otherwise unable to sustain a 'rail' service.
There is no density issue with Tramtrain!
First perfected in Germany in the early 90's, Tramtrain is now operating in over 20 cities around the world, with many more being planned, but not in Metro Vancouver, where TransLink has invented contrived rules to omit Tramtrain, even when Rail for the Valley and Leewood projects released a professional study that showed that a 20 minute service (trains operating at 20 minute headways in each direction) from Scott Road SkyTrain station to Chilliwack could be obtained for about $500 million or for $1 billion, a grand Vancouver/Richmond to Rosedale Tramtrain could be built.
But TransLink refuses to play saying that unless the proposed 'rail' transit can operate at a 10 minute headways, they are not interested.
With this grand ignorance, TransLink has shortchanged Surrey and the South Fraser Region of viable light rail, built at a cost that would be $400 million to $900 million cheaper than the now approved SkyTrain Evergreen Line and will continue to shortchange Surrey and the South Fraser Region in the future.
The failure of TransLink, its board, bureaucrats and politicians to grasp 21st century public transit philosophy means Surrey will always get second prize in the rapid transit sweepstakes!
Guest column: Surrey is being badly shortchanged on transit
By Stephanie Ryan, The Province
Public transportation has become a key issue in many Metro Vancouver civic elections, but nowhere is the lack of ser-vice more acute than in Surrey.
Surrey has become a have-not city when it comes to public transit. Residents are understandably fed up with abysmal service.
We are not prepared to wait any longer. It's time to get our fair share. For two decades Surrey has been growing at an unbelievable pace of over 10,000 new residents each year. But transit — like schools, hospitals and other infrastructure — has not kept pace.
Surrey has become the poor cousin in TransLink negotiations, and receives only 25 to 30 per cent of the service received by communities north of the Fraser.
This is unfair. Data on growth shows that Surrey has grown at nearly three times the rate of Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster since 1986, when those cities first welcomed the opening of SkyTrain.
Even with the newest two-cent-per-litre gas tax, which Surrey council proudly boasts will allocate 45 per cent of new bus service hours to the city, Surrey will receive very little, dollar for dollar, compared with communities north of the Fraser.
The Evergreen Line to the Tri-Cities, with a population half that of Surrey, is expected to cost $1.4 billion while the new bus service for Surrey will cost about $194 million — less than 10 per cent of Trans-Link's gas-tax plan.
Not only do Surrey residents receive less service, we have to pay more than our counterparts to the north. Surrey residents will pay the same extra two cents per litre as everyone else but are more reliant on their cars and have to drive greater distances. Add to that the fact that TransLink has added an additional fare zone for those who cross the river into Surrey and that all three bridges leading north over the river are expected to be tolled in the years ahead.
It's a triple whammy for Surrey that applies nowhere else in B.C.
Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts chaired the TransLink Mayors Council for a year but failed to fix any of the funding inequities.
Meanwhile, her Surrey First councillors nod along, toeing the line, gratefully accepting whatever TransLink happens to throw their way. That just isn't good enough.
Surrey residents can no longer afford to wait with Watts as she dithers over transit service. We have been paying into TransLink for years without receiving our fair share of service. It is time to start playing catch-up with those cities that receive many more service hours per capita than we do.
Whether it's tolls, gas taxes, fare zones or a proposed vehicle levy, it is time Surrey reaped the rewards of a system we have been paying into all along.
Surrey residents should reasonably expect their city council to take a more aggressive stance at the Trans-Link bargaining table, pursuing an expansion of bus service, express bus service and light-rail service now – not just when it is politically convenient.
In politics, you get what you negotiate and that means taking risks, being bold, building alliances and not accepting "no" for an answer, particularly when the people you represent are being treated as unfairly as Surrey residents.
What does Surrey need? More tough negotiating with the province and fewer celebrity "love-ins" with world leaders.
– – – – – –
Stephanie Ryan is a council candidate for the Surrey Civic Coalition.
Could be Granville Street or Broadway
Though this is K Street in Sacramento, it could be Granville Street or Broadway in Vancouver!
SkyTrain Craps Out Again – So what Else Is new! (Updated)
For the third time this week, the SkyTrain Expo Line has shut down, first due to electrical problems; then for mechanical problems; and as I write this, the news on the radio claims that the Expo Line is closed for electrical and mechanical reasons – go figure.
For those who claim that SkyTrain is more reliable than light rail, I have news for you – IT ISN'T!
Yet politicians who support SkyTrain expansion seem to have collective amnesia, when it comes to operational problems with the mini-metro, let's hope the taxpayers don't come next weeks civic elections!
SkyTrain issues cause major delays
No word when things will return to normal
Nov 12, 2011 08:36:27 AMSURREY (NEWS1130) – SkyTrain passengers are having some major problems this morning. A mechanical issue has completely stopped service on the Expo Line.A bus bridge has been set up between King George Station and New Westminster Station. People will then have to transfer to another bus bridge from New Westminster Station to Braid Station and then take the Millennium Line to Commercial-Broadway Station and then head to Downtown Vancouver.
Earlier in the morning, the Canada Line was not working properly out to YVR.
Technicians are running test trains on the Expo Line, but there's word when things will be running normally.
SkyTrain service halted
METRO VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980)
11/12/2011
Due to mechanical and electrical issues the Expo Line is not operating right now.
The Millennium Line is running between VCC-Clark and Sapperton stations.
Bus bridges are in place between Commercial-Broadway station and downtown Vancouver.
A bus bridge is also operating out of Surrey, from King George station to New Westminster station
Canada Line was having some problems earlier this morning, but Canada Line service is now back to normal.
Update 12:30 pm:
SURREY (NEWS1130) – SkyTrain passengers spent much of the morning waiting for a bus bridge after major mechanical issues slowed down service on the Canada Line and shut down the Expo Line.
Early this afternoon, the Expo Line was running normally. TransLink won't say what the problem was or why it took so long to fix.
A Ford Fiasco In Toronto
There are many in the Metro Lobby crowd that think moneyAi??grows on trees and taxpayers just love paying more taxes and modern LRT is nothing more than an “European concept” andAi??not really applicable here in Canada or the USA. What is applicable for grand metro schemes is the extremely high cost of construction and I will wager, Toronto’s anti-tram/pro-carAi??Mayor Ford isAi??at the beginning ofAi??a very steep learning curve as to the costs and financing of heavy-rail metro, especially built inAi??subways.
The real question is, “How far will Mayor Ford go, sacrificing the Toronto taxpayer to fund needless metro construction to suit his political needs?”
Regional mayors in the Vancouver metro region have already answered that question by approving a two cent a litre gas tax to fund the questionable Evergreen Line.
Toronto Star
No early cash for Sheppard, province tells Ford
Light rail closer to reality for Surrey, Langley – From Newsradio 11:30
Some positive news – well maybe, but we have all heard this before. If TransLink is involved with light rail planning for Surrey, it will fail for sure as TransLink couldn’t even plan for an outhouse, let alone understand its function. TransLink is famous for gold-plating proposed LRT that the cost becomes more than an elevated SkyTrain mini-metro!
‘Zwei’ would be happier if TransLink and South Fraser mayors engage real transit consultants, who have a real knowledge of modern LRTAi??forAi??proposed LRT planning. May I suggest David Cockle and Leewood projects for this task, as they have ample knowledge of the region with the ground breaking Rail for the Valley/Leewood study!
Houston’s innovative new light rail traveling on a reserved rights-of-way which also happens to be a water feature!
Provincial Light rail closer to reality for Surrey, Langley
http://www.news1130.com/news/local/article/298136–light-rail-closer-to-reality-for-surrey-langley
government is thinking about it
Nov 10, 2011 PMAi??SURREY (NEWS1130) – Surrey and Langley have received the first indications the provincial government is considering light rapid transit for those cities.It’s something the mayors have been lobbying for, for a long time. With the Evergreen Line finally heading into Coquitlam and UBC clamouring for a SkyTrain extension down Broadway, commuters in Surrey and Langley have been feeling a little left out.But that has changed with Transportation Minister Blair Lekstrom saying he’s seriously looking at a light rail system for those two cities.
Langley Mayor Peter Fassbender says trains are the way to go. “I think from a construction point of view and the ability to perhaps build more at the same cost as we would for a SkyTrain line out here, I think it’s an option that makes a lot of fiscal sense.”
Surrey Dianne Watts has always argued it’s important to widen the focus, away from strictly SkyTrain, to include the possibility of streetcars and light rail.
“Look at what occurred in Portland when they put in at grade rail, they spurred on $31 billion worth of economic development. So, for those businesses and creating jobs and things like that was really the way to go.”
She says possible routes include 104 Ave., the Fraser Highway, and King George Boulevard.
Rail For the Valley gives Top Honours to Rick Green
Media Release: Rail For the Valley gives Top Honours to Rick Green
Rail For the Valley has singled out Langley Township Mayor Rick Green for Top Honours when itAi??comes to advocating timely, sustainable transportation options. Among South of Fraser politicians hisAi??efforts have been outstanding in ensuring that people understand that there are affordable and practicalAi??solutions available to our transit problems.
Rail For the Valley founder Dr. John Buker had this to say: ai???Of all South of Fraser politicians, RickAi??Green’s achievements with respect to Rail for the Valley, and his advocacy of sustainable and timelyAi??transportation options, stand out. Mayor Green deserves unique recognition from us, for his work soAi??far.ai???
Rick Green’s three major Rail for the Valley accomplishments during his first term as Mayor ofAi??Langley Township:
1) Renewing passenger rights on the Interurban corridor. These rights would have quietly expired 2years ago, giving CP Rail a huge financial windfall, without the public even knowing, had MayorAi??Green not intervened. If the public had lost these rights, any hope of implementing a future InterurbanAi??service at an affordable cost to the taxpayer would have disappeared forever.
2) Creating the South of Fraser Community Rail Task Force. Thanks to this Task Force, communities,Ai??educational institutions, and other supportive organizations throughout the Fraser Valley are nowAi??actively communicating and working together on the regional rail issue.
3) Consistently advocating for timely and cost effective transportation alternatives to Translink. NotAi??only has Mayor Green been vocal about the possibilities for Light Rail in public, he has shown aAi??willingness to ‘stand up and be counted’ on this issue, even when encountering strong resistance fromAi??Translink and the provincial ‘Powers that Be’.
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