OK folks, the following is a small list of the many European regional railways, operating on single tracks or which route operates on portions of single track.
Why am I posting this, you say?
Last week I received an angry phone call from a gentleman who claimed had done some work for Metro Vancouver on the subject of reinstating a passenger service on the former BC Electric interurban line to Chilliwack.
He wanted me to: “…….cease publishing blog posts on reinstating the former interurban passenger service and refrain from sending mail referring to reinstating an interurban to the various Metro Vancouver Councils!”
He further said; “I was wasting his time because he had to debunk what have stated in various mail and he was tired of dealing with the issue.”
I stated that; “I was not an expert, nor claimed to be but an informed taxpayer who has a interest in local transit and transportation affairs“, or something like that anyways. I further added, “that what had been stated in recent mailings and the RftV blog, was information from credible media sources and from real experts in Canada, the USA, the UK and Europe, which I wished to share with those who are making the decisions on transit and transportation.”
I did manage to pry what offended him the most and that was the concept of single track operation as; “according to TransLink, no viable passenger service could be operated on single track!”
Really? Doesn’t the Canada Line have 600 metres of single track operation in Richmond Centre and almost 700 metres of single track at YVR? (of course this was an after thought and i wished I was speedier with the repartee!)
He then warned that “some sort of legal action would be taken against me if I continued“…………. click! Less than two minutes and from a private number as well.
To be honest, I was very slow on the uptake, didn’t quite get his name or who he worked for, or was he just a member of the SkyTrain Lobby who is in denial.
Well I heard that threat before and all I can say is bring it on!
The following are videos from YouTube showing single track operation on all or portions of the line. There are a lot more “Driver’s view” videos and I would recommend watching them, if only to have a scenic train trip, through delightful countryside holiday in the quiet of your home.
Classic German regional railway in the Black Forest.
Please cut and paste to view or open on a new tab.
The problem with automatic (driverless) light metros is that when the system fails, the entire system fails. Regular customers of Vancouver’s SkyTrain light-metro can attest to this.
There are many issues that a automatic transit system must deal with, including computer issues and maintenance. Poor maintenance leads to computer issues and maintenance is expensive. Automatic light metro’s need a rigorous program of preventive maintenance to operate problem free, far more than systems with drivers. Vancouver’s SkyTrain system requires more maintenance than conventional systems with drivers, costing around 60% more to operate than a conventional system.
This is why automatic light metro’s age very badly because as maintenance is cut to reduce operating costs, due to higher operating costs as the system ages, leading to more “down” time. It is a viscous downward financial spiral.
Of course I am being polite, because Montreal transit customers, particularly REM customers will soon find out how automatic light metros operate in the snow.
They don’t!
Entire REM line shut down during rush hour due to computer problem
A train is seen stopped at a station during a media tour of the the Reseau express metropolitain (REM) in Brossard, Que. on Thursday, June 10, 2021. The automated light train network will have 26 stations and 67 km of tracks across Greater Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
Montreal’s new light-rail network experienced “technical problems” during the afternoon rush hour on Monday, as some passengers reported on social media that they were stuck on the train for close to an hour.
The Réseau Express Métropolitain (REM) said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that there was a service disruption at Montreal’s Central Station. The post was published at 5:26 p.m.
A previous post from 3:45 p.m. said the REM was down heading north from Brossard.
In an email to CTV News, an official from CDPQ Infra, which operates the REM, said, “Technical problems with the computer system are causing problems and errors at the control centre,” and that a backup plan was in place.
“No safety issues have been raised,” the email stated.
Passengers took to social media to air frustration with the breakdown and the lack of information from the operator.
One person on X said he and several other passengers were stuck on the train between two stations and demanded to know when they would be able to get off.
Another person wrote: “Our train is stationary near Panama. Can we at least have some information?”
Shortly after 6:30 p.m., REM service started to be gradually restored, according to an update from the REM’s X account.
COMMUNICATION ‘NEEDS TO BE IMPROVED’: CDPQ INFRA
Philippe Batani, vice-president of public affairs at CDPQ Infra, confirmed in an interview with The Canadian Press that there was also a service breakdown earlier in the day on Monday.
“We’re still in a break-in period, but this is a problem we’ve encountered for the first time today,” he said.
“At the end of the day, the problem became more serious, forcing us to shut down the entire system so that we could take corrective action”, he added, adding that “minor slowdowns” were observed throughout the day.
Batani acknowledged that the communication issue needs to be improved.
“We’re taking notes. It’s been mentioned to us that the way we communicate information to users when there are breakdowns needs to be improved,” he said. “It’s something that’s at the top of our (priority) list.”
TransLink has now admitted that they are $4.7 billion in the hole and Rail for The Valley has told you so, many times in the past.
The $11 billion to extend the Expo and Millennium Lines has now landed, like the financial time bomb it is, onto the Mayor’s Council’s lap.
RftV has warned for over a decade that building a hugely expensive, yet obsolete light metro system instead as just as effective light rail, would haunt taxpayers and like a bad Halloween joke gone awry and now it has come true. TransLink’s inept planning and operation has plunged the region and its taxpayers into a $4.7 billion nightmare on East Columbia St.
Excuses and more excuses is all the taxpayer gets from TransLink’s well paid bureaucrats, which the word economy is not in their lexicon.
RftV has been chastised over and over again for asking “Show me the money.” Well, it now seems there was no money to show!
The Provincial government is also to blame because all this debt has been created by the premier’s Office using transit as a sort of pre-election photo-op gimmick to win votes.
Zwei sent a letter to now unelected Premier Eby (never has been elected as Premier) asking for a judicial inquiry on Transit and Transit planning, with all facts all based on published accounts by Canadian newspapers of note and all I got for my troubles is that all further correspondence must go through a provincial barrister.
Eby knows that this $4.7 billion financial hole is a politcal time bomb and he will hide behind the Mayor’s Council’s skirts like the politcal coward he is, even though the provincial NDP approved the spending of $11 billion (but never approved how to raise the funds) to extend the Expo and Millennium Lines, as reported here.
With financial restraint, now the politcal keyword in both the the next provincial and federal elections and the taxpayer getting more and more restless with proliferate spending by politicians and their bureaucrat masters on dubious projects. With more and more people are living on the streets, ever longer lineups at food banks and fewer coins in one’s purse, $4.7 more billion for gold-plated transit schemes may just tip the balance at the ballot box.
A report going to the Lower Mainland’s Mayors’ Council Wednesday shows that the transit authority is facing a structural deficit of $4.7 billion.
While that loss is a projection, that is the forecasted gap between its planned expenditures and expected revenues if nothing changes in the next few years.
The report notes that the deficit “appeared” at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, “where a significant decline in ridership resulted in suppressed fare revenue. While ridership has been recovering steadily, TransLink has been facing rapidly growing costs as a result of the inflationary pressures, particularly labour and construction costs.”
It says fare rates and property tax increases were kept lower during that time to “avoid adverse impact on the Region recovering from the pandemic.”
Funding from senior governments’ has helped TransLink over the last three years, however, the report notes that the deficit really “starts becoming apparent in 2026, and grows progressively.”
“For the years 2026 to 2033, based on the scope of 2022 Investment Plan and before any additional scope of the 10-Year Priorities is included, the total funding gap is $4.7 billion. To fill this gap, TransLink would need approximately $600 million per year in new revenues starting in 2026.”
The report notes that the main reasons for the cash gap are inflation, service expansion, and debt servicing costs.
“The largest expense increase is caused by inflation, contributing $839 million to the funding gap. Of this amount, the largest portion ($551 million) is driven by labour rate increases due to negotiated settlements,” the report explained.
“The next highest expense driver is expansion, at $408 million. The addition of Broadway Subway, Surrey Langley Skytrain and Expo Millennium Line Upgrade projects result in additional costs needed to operate and support the expansion.”
The cost of borrowing money has also increased, as interest rates have steadily gone up since March 2022.
“Debt service costs have increased compared to 2018 Investment Plan, driven by an increase in capital spending. This is partially offset by lower borrowing rates than those assumed in the 2018 Investment Plan. As a result, debt service costs contribute $459 million to the funding gap.”
The region’s Mayors’ Council will receive the report Wednesday, with actions to address the deficit to come at a later date.
Europe’s newest light rail line just opened and our local tax hungry politicians and bureaucrats should take note!
Broadway subway – $2.7 billion for 5.7 km. (not including vehicles, electrical/signalling upgrades)
Proposed Expo line Extension to Langley – Almost $5 billion for 16 km. (not including vehicles, electrical/signalling upgrades)
Helsinki’s Jokeri Line, including vehicles – $819 million for 25 km!
The Jokeri LRT ot Helsinki’s route 15, is a 25-kilometre (16 mi), 34 station light rail line connecting Keilaniemi in Espoo and Itäkeskus in Helsinki, Finland. The line started operating in October 2023, about 10 months ahead of the original schedule. The line will eventually replace trunk bus line 550, the busiest bus service on the Helsinki Regional Transport Authority public transport network.
The 25 km line cost €562 million or CAD $819 million and came in €13 million or CAD $19 million under budget and opened ten months early!
As Translink pleads poverty to any and all who would listen, a comment from American Transportation Engineer who worked on many pioneering US light rail projects, in 2008, when he shredded the Evergreen lines business case.
But, eventually, Vancouver will need to adopt lower-cost LRT in its lesser corridors, or else limit the extent of its rail system. And that seems to make some TransLink people very nervous.
Jokeri light rail line opens early and below budget
23 October 2023
FINLAND: Helsinki Regional Transport opened its 25 km orbital light rail line serving the Helsinki-Espoo conurbation for revenue service on October 21, almost a year ahead of schedule.
Running from Itäkeskus in eastern Helsinki to Keilaniemi in neighbouring Espoo to the west, the line is branded Jokeri as an abbreviation of JOukkolikkenteen KEhämäinen Raide Investointi (mass transport ring rail investment).
It runs in an arc around the capital, which is located on a pear-shaped peninsular connected by three radial highways. Around 16 km of the route is located in Helsinki and 9 km in Espoo.
Being promoted as an ‘express tram’, the Jokeri LRT is intended to replace bus Route 550, which since being launched in August 2003 has become HSL’s busiest with 40 000 passengers/day on weekdays. The end-to-end journey time of 65 min, an average speed of 25 km/h, is similar to the bus timetable, but the trams will not be subject to delay by traffic jams. The bus service is expected to cease running at the end of the year.
Planning and construction
The light rail line was first mooted around 1990, but it was not until June 2008 that the city of Helsinki commissioned a detailed plan, which was presented in May 2009.
The scheme was finally approved in 2016, and construction began in June 2019.
Tracklaying was completed in August 2022, and test running finished in September. The route was originally expected to open in summer 2024, but the target date was brought forward to January and then to October 2023.
The line has been developed by the Jokeri Rail Alliance, set up by the two cities to bring the promoters, designers and contractors into a single umbrella organisation. The double-track line has been built to 1 000 mm gauge for compatibility with HKL’s legacy tram network. It serves 34 stops at an average spacing of approximately 800 m. Three of these provide interchange to the metro stations at Itäkeskus, Aalto University and Keilaniemi and three to suburban railway stations at Oulunkylä, Huopalahti and Leppävaara. Construction of the line required four new bridges over the radial highways and one of the city’s ring roads, plus a 300 m tunnel at Patterinmäki.
Civil works were budgeted at €382m with another €108m for the rolling stock plus €70m for the dedicated depot at Roihupelto bringing the total to €562m.
The cost of the project has been split three ways. The national government contributed €84m, and the remainder has been divided between the municipal administrations in Helsinki (65%) and Espoo (35%). According to HSL, the line has been completed around €13m below budget.
Vehicles and services
The line will be operated by a fleet of 29 ForCity Smart Artic X54 supplied by Škoda Transtech. These are a longer version of the Smart Artic cars previously supplied to HKL and similar to those in operation in Tampere.
The five-section low-floor cars are 34 m long, with provision to incorporate an extra 10 m section if demand increases in the future. Each car can carry up to 214 passengers, including 78 seats and four spaces for wheelchairs or prams, and can run at speeds up to 70 km/h. The trams are finished in a white and petrol blue livery which like the interior was developed by Finland’s Idis Design.
Tram services operate from 04.30 to 01.15 each weekday, starting an hour later at weekends. As only 15 trams have so far been delivered the initial headway is 10 to 12 min, but the frequency will increase to a tram every 6 min when all 29 are available, allowing the bus route to be withdrawn. Zonal fares are charged, with a flat fare of €2·80 for travel in either Helsinki or Espoo and €3·10 for both zones, all valid for 80 min.
Environmental improvements include an estimated reduction of around 85% in CO2 emissions and 95% in NOx emissions compared to the 550 bus. The trams are expected to carry more than twice as many passengers, reaching an estimated 91 000 passengers/day by 2030. Total ridership is projected at 3·5 million trips for the remainder of 2023 and up to 15 million in 2024. The line is also expected to encourage commercial and residential development in both Helsinki and Espoo.
Plans are being developed for extension of the line to serve Viikki, Pasila, Otaniemi and Tapiola. This would follow the completion of HKL’s 5·5 km Crown Bridges light rail line linking Helsinki with its fast-growing eastern suburb of Laajasalo, which is scheduled to open in 2027.
I do not have the answers to these questions or rather I may know the answers but with libel and slander laws the way they are, I will not offer an opinion.
Why do TransLink and the Mayor’s council on Transit still continue planning for the obsolete Movia Automatic Light Metro system (A.K.A. SkyTrain), when it costs more to build, maintain, and operate than al other transit systems of the same class?
Why do we build subways on routes that do not have the ridership to support them, with a transit system, specifically designed to mitigate the high cost of subway construction?
Why does the provincial government allow TransLink to grossly misinform the public on the costs of building and operating light metro?
Why is the government afraid of much cheaper and proven more effective light rail transit?
Why is the government spending over $5 billion to Extend the Expo Line in Surrey, while doing all it can to discredit a 130 kilometre, Vancouver to Chilliwack regional railway, costing less than $2 billion to install?
Why did TransLink import American transit CEO’s from Baltimore, (where ridership declined , before pandemic, 2% year by year during his tenure), who knows little of local transit issues while ignoring “in house” managers who do have the local expertise to be CEO of TransLink?
Why does the provincial MoT refuse to accept any transit solution other than light metro?
Why does Premier Eby refuse a judicial inquiry into regional transit planning which by all accounts has failed miserably in providing an affordable alternative to the car?
Why did the provincial government allow a $1.65 billion light rail project, balloon to an over $5 billion light metro project in Surrey/Langley?
Why do the ruling elites at UBC support a $4 to $5 billion subway to the university, again on a route that does not have the ridership to demand a subway?
Maybe readers can ask these questions of their civic, provincial and federal politicians, but do not expect a straight answer!
The genesis of this blog was to advocate and support reintroducing a passenger rail service from Vancouver to Chilliwack and after 13 years since the release of the Leewood Study, which created a template for such a service, the need today is greater than it has ever been.
As the upper Fraser Valley’s population increases the stresses on the highway system is reaching a breaking point and the provinces simplistic “expanding Hwy. 1 philosophy” will prove to be unworkable as traffic will soon fill the added road space – as it has done everywhere else, creating even great gridlock at choke points!
Multi story condos at Vedder Crossing
With light metro construction both expensive and being very temperamental in winter conditions (it operates poorly in snow and snow it does in the upper Fraser Valley) using the existing and former BC Electric rail line only makes sense.
This map from 1961 shows clearly the former Marpole (Vancouver) and Chilliwack interurban routes
We are not talking commuter trains, such as the West Coast Express. The geometry of the track was not designed for long wheelbase double deck commuter cars. Using classic commuter trains would demand very expensive track adjustments and a slow operating speed and such use would not be cost effective.
This leaves two alternatives, diesel or electric articulated multiple units (D/EMU’s) or TramTrain. Both are designed to tackle tighter curvatures and sharp grades and thus major expensive track adjustments are avoided.
D/EMU’s are common in operation around the world and provide an affordable transport service.
A modern DMU operating on Ottawa’s Trillium Line.
A German electric multiple unit (EMU) for branch line service.
TramTrain is a modern tram or streetcar, so designed that it can operate on both tram lines and the mainline railway.
From Wikipedia:
A tram-train is a type of light rail vehicle that both meets the standards of a light rail system, and also national mainline standards. Tramcars are adapted to be capable of running on streets like an urban tramway but also be permitted operation alongside mainline trains. This allows services that can utilize both existing urban light rail systems and mainline railway networks and stations. It combines the urban accessibility of a tram or light rail with a mainline train’s greater speed in the suburbs.
The modern tram-train concept was pioneered by the German city of Karlsruhe in the late 1980s, resulting in the creation of the Karlsruhe Stadtbahn. This concept is often referred to as the Karlsruhe model, and it has since been adopted in other cities such as Mulhouse in France and in Kassel, Nordhausen and Saarbrücken in Germany.
An inversion of the concept is a train-tram; a mainline train adapted to run on-street in an urban tramway, also known as the Zwickau Model.
A diesel powered TramTrain in Germany operating quite happily on a secondary branch line bringing a quality transit to areas which otherwise would not have.
Today there are now over thirty TramTrain operations around the world, with over forty being planned.
First in operation in Karlsruhe, Germany, in 1992 the success was almost instant, with a 479% increase in ridership on the initial rout in just 7 months! By eliminating just one transfer from commuter train to tram, ridership went from 533,600 per week to 2,554,976 million per week!
The Rail for the Valley Leewood Study is the only transit study in BC to date to mention TramTrain as a solution for reinstating the former BC Electric interurban service.
New Jersey’s River Line uses Stadler diesel powered TramTrains.
Rail for the Valley recommends using a diesel powered TramTrain, running from Marpole (15 minute transfer via the Canada Line tio YVR) to Chilliwack, serving, South Vancouver, south Burnaby, New Westminster, North Delta, Central Surrey, Cloverdale (with front door service to KPU and the proposed new hospital), Langley (KPU Langley campus) ; Trinity Western University (front door service); Gloucester Industrial Estates; Downtown Abbotsford, Huntington/Sumas (US Boarder & 15 minutes from YXX); Vedder/Sardis (gateway to Cultus Lake) and Chilliwack.
A 130 km, end to end journey time would be less than two hours, not bad when today’s congestion on Hwy.1 regularly sees one hour traffic delays or more!
Today’s cost for such a service is $1.5 billion to $1.7 billion and such a service would attract far more new customers to transit than the current 16 km, $5 billion to $6 billion extension of the Expo line to Langley, which TransLink estimates will carry fewer customers than Vancouver’s Broadway b-Line Express bus.
Why TramTrain?
TramTrain offers flexibility of service, especially for future expansion and allows for stand alone tram/streetcar routes in Langley, Abbotsford and Chilliwack.
Today, TransLink and the province continues planning for now obsolete light metro, with the belief that “they will get it right this time“.
By continuing to plan for a 1980’s “Edsel” of “rapid transit“, the region is rejecting the the 2020’s reality of “Prius” and “Tesla” type transit systems.
It is time our politicians and planners join the 21st century and get on board with affordable and flexible, modern TramTrain.
Vancouver politicians want to pull a fast one on regional taxpayers.
What seems to be pure politcal theatre from a city council which has not one clue about public transport nor the financial implications of “rapid transit”, want to plan for another rapid transit line.
The ruling Alphabetical Party of Convenience has to be seen doing something while they do nothing, but still maintain the need for a subway.
This is a city that can’t even operate and maintain Stanley Park’s miniature railway.
In BC, Rapid Transit is a nebulous term that can mean anything from a heavy rail metro to a express bus that operates every 15 minutes.
Rapid Transit, a Wiki definition:
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be called a subway, tube, or underground. Unlike buses or trams, rapid transit systems are railways, usually electric, that operate on an exclusive right-of-way, which cannot be accessed by pedestrians or other vehicles. They are often grade-separated in tunnels or on elevated railways.
Vancouver wants another subway (they have a by-law forbidding elevated construction) and that will be costly!
The sad fact is, no one really cares, simply because so few use transit, 12% to 14% of the regional population use transit and that expanding Highway one is now the provincial governments number one transportation concern. Then add the Broadway subway to UBC, rapid transit to the North Shore, old Zwei will long be dust before any rapid transit happens on Hastings.
The CoV wants a Hastings St. subway!
Vancouver City Council endorses rapid transit for Hastings corridor
The Hastings Street corridor in Vancouver could soon be home to a new rapid transit system.
East Hastings Street, between downtown Vancouver and the PNE, could be targeted next for a TransLink rapid system as Vancouver City Council passed a motion that will prioritize transit in the area.
Council will also be asking TransLink’s Mayors’ Council to consider the new system, as well.
“Anybody that travels along (East) Hastings Street … it doesn’t matter what your mode of transportation is, (everyone) knows how busy and how congested that route is,” Counc. Sarah Kirby-Yung said.
The council is requesting that TransLink also study the feasibility of a rapid transit connection on Hastings.
However, the project remains low on the city’s list of priorities with the primary focus on completing the Millennium Line extension to UBC.
Council is shifting its planning emphasis away from considering another east-west transit link from Metrotown to UBC and is instead proposing improvements to the rapid bus service on 49th Avenue.
“That does include prioritizing 49th as well as Granville Street, Kingsway, and looking towards a new corridor in South Vancouver to support service along Southwest Marine Drive,” Kirby-Yung said.
Vancouver’s motion aligns with TransLink’s long-term vision for the region. The Access For All Plan includes rapid transit on Hastings but the 10-year, $20-billion plan remains unfunded.
TransLink will need funding for construction, with a significant portion allocated to doubling the region’s bus service, establishing nine new rapid bus routes, implementing a gondola to SFU, and introducing rapid transit to the North Shore — potentially connecting to a Hastings Street line.
This ambitious plan will require substantial funding from senior levels of government.
TransLink provided a statement regarding the Hastings Street rapid transit.
“The ten-year Access for Everyone Plan includes rapid transit along Hastings Street which would stop at Hastings Park,” TransLink staff said.
“TransLink will continue working closely with all levels of government to secure funding for the Access for Everyone Plan.”
TransLink’s Mayors’ Council will convene at the end of October to discuss the region’s goals and growth.
When this issue arose a year ago, it was mentioned to Zwei that the Parks Board wanted the Stanley Park Train to be gone!
A year later, the issue lingers like chicken manure.
Well, a bureaucracy cannot be that incompetent or can it? With today’s announcement, it seems it can!
Then there is the utterly dishonest half truths, which is so common for the City of Vancouver, on why the train is not running.
Look folks, the train is from Chance Rides and is still in production. The train is not live steam, rather powered by a gas or Diesel motor. As it has been designed as a carnival ride, spare parts are plentiful and track maintenance somewhat easy.
I would say the public should demand the resignation of the entire Parks Board.
By the way, Zwei has a Plate Layer’s Guide ( a book giving all the information needed for laying track for track gauges from 15 inch to broad gauge) and the parks board are welcome to borrow it anytime!
Stanley Park Ghost Train cancelled for fourth straight year
The Vancouver Park Board says the Stanley Park Ghost Train will not run for the fourth straight Halloween due to mechanical issues. (Courtesy: City of Vancouver)
A fall fixture in Vancouver will be out of commission for a fourth consecutive year.
The city’s Board of Parks and Recreation has announced the Stanley Park Ghost Train will not operate again this Halloween season as “restoration work continues to ensure its safe and optimal performance.”
In a news release Wednesday, the board says there has been “steadfast commitment” to get the train running again after four years of it being sidelined.
It says some of the vintage train equipment is more than 60 years old and requires specialized parts that are hard to procure.
The board notes that “all necessary parts” have been acquired and repairs are expected to be completed by November. The agency, however, did not say if the train would be ready by the holiday season, saying more details will be shared “in the coming weeks.”
The Halloween train was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, then again in 2021 due to the threat of coyotes in the park. The same mechanical issues caused its cancellation in 2022.
People hoping to attend the Ghost Train are being encouraged by the city to attend VanDusen Garden’s Harvest Days in October.
This question has been asked over and over again by those who only know our MALM (SkyTrain) light-metro system. After 40 years of non stop rah-rah, propaganda by the federal and provincial governments, civic governments and bureaucracies; and the various groups made up of, what I call, the “SkyTrain Lobby”, Light-Rail, locally has been given an extremely bad rap.
Today, over 550 transit systems operating around the world can be called light rail; an almost universal transit system that can carry customer flows greatly exceeding 20,000 persons per hour per direction, yet economically carry customer flows under 2,000 pphpd on lightly used routes.
Light Rail is not a streetcar, rather it is a streetcar or tram that can operate as:
1. A streetcar, operating in mixed traffic.
A Toronto streetcar operating on-street.
2. As light rail, operating on a dedicated or reserved rights-of-way.
A Paris tram operating on a lawned dedicated R-o-W.
3. As a light-metro, operating on a segregated viaduct and/or subway.
Over 90% of Seattle’s LRT operates as a light metro, either in a subway or on viaducts.
4. As a passenger rail train (TramTrain), operating on the mainline railways.
5. Trams can carry freight.
A freight tram in Dresden.
6. Can operate popular tourist services.
Restaurant trams have proven very popular
7. Bistro trams offer light refreshments on longer journeys.
Bistro trams improves the customers experience.
8. Can be festive.
A Christmas tram in Prague.
And all this can operate on one light rail route!
The following is from the Light Rail Transit Association.
Light rail helps fight congestion
•A proven ability to attract drivers from their cars.Typically 20 percent of the peak-hour passengers on a light railsystem transferred from car. •Light rail reduces congestion on the routes it serves.In Manchester, traffic flows on key routes into centralManchester reduced by up to 10 per cent at peak times. •Introducing light rail increases overall patronageof public transport.In Nottingham there were “Initial indications that thepublic transport market has increased by over 20 per cent.” •Measures to control car use are simplified when people have a high-quality alternative. •Light rail systems lead to less traffic pollution and fewer road accidents. •Light rail frees up road space for walking or cycling, and reduces the need for towncentre car parking. •{Source PTEG report “What Light Rail can do for cities.”
I will send the following letter to all municipal and provincial politicians in November and it will be ignored, as usual.
This does not surprise me because our current lot don’t want to acknowledge the truth, lest they be embarrassed by past politically inspired decisions. Six figured salaried planners and engineers are merely telling politicians what they want to hear, more transit, billions of dollars more to try to patch up the system and extend it a few more kilometres.
The problem still remains, TransLink is largely held in high odor by the taxpayer.
Translated, this means huge new taxes on an already beleaguered taxpayer who has been hit hard by inflation, rents and taxes.
This is why TransLink’s CEO is a high priced American “spin doctor“whose job is to massage the truth so new tax hikes will be accepted by the taxpayer.
As with the previous post, most politicians haven’t a clue about transit and transit mode and are only concerned for photo-op ready projects which look good at election time.
A recent tilt with former politcal types on Facebook, extolling the virtues of SkyTrain and the need to build more ran square into an information wall, about SkyTrain, which good old Zwei dealt with every issue, calling out “man of straw” arguments and correcting TransLink’s favourite bits of fake news.
To say they were not happy was an understatement.
Last year, Zwei sent a letter to now premier Eby, asking for a judicial inquiry with transit and transit planning, which a reply stated “all further communication must go through a provincial barrister.” A cowards way out from dealing with reality.
This begs the question; “What was Eby afraid of?”
If you have the time, send or cut and paste the following to your city council, provincial MLA or Federal MP. It is time they face up to the reality of current transit planning, which is spending billions of dollars for politcal monuments and photo ops at election time and not much more.
I have been involved with transit issues in the lower mainland for over four decades. I have been a forty year member of the Light Rail Transit Association and through my long membership, I have been advised by transit experts, in Canada, the USA and Europe.
I am the person responsible for the Leewood Study, an independent study by Leewood Projects UK, about the viability of reinstating the former Vancouver to Chilliwack interurban service with modern TramTrain or light diesel multiple units, on behalf of the Rail for the Valley group.
The Lower mainland has a glaringly expensive transit problem; Metro Vancouver mayors, the province and TransLink have approved spending around $11 billion dollars, extending the Expo and Millennium Light-Metro lines 21.7 km.
Is this a good investment of tax dollars or are the regional civic and provincial politicians condemning the region to a very expensive, yet obsolete regional rail system by doing the same thing over and over again, hoping for different results.
This massive expenditure, extending the Millennium and Expo Lines a mere 21.7 km will attract little new ridership because there will be little or no improvement for the transit customer, despite the promises of TransLink and the bellicose claims by regional mayors and politicians.
The $2.8 billion, 5.7 km Broadway subway, is literally a subway to nowhere. The terminus for the subway at Arbutus can be traced to the early 1990’s Broadway – Lougheed Light Rail Project, where the Arbutus Corridor was seen to connect to future LRT operating on the former interurban route. Subways have proven to be little incentive for attracting transit customers and a major inconvenience from forced transfers, bus to subway, means many former transit customers may opt for the car instead.
Subways are very poor in attracting new ridership, especially subways to nowhere.
In Surrey, the NDP political promise to extend the Expo Line to Langley, has grave financial implications, akin to the FastFerry fiasco, which has followed the provincial NDP as an Albatross around its political neck. Simply, the Millennium Line extension to Langley, like the FastFerries, has become far too costly, for what good it will do.
This possible $5 billion investment for 16 km of new line, confirms Bent Flyvberg’s Iron Law of Mega-projects specifically addresses why politicians are obsessed with infrastructure at any cost.
…the “political sublime,” which here is understood as the rapture politicians get from building monuments to themselves and their causes. Mega-projects garner attention, and lend an air of proactiveness to their promoters. Moreover, they are media magnets, which appeals to politicians who seem to enjoy few things better than the visibility they get from starting mega-projects. Except maybe cutting the ribbon of one in the company of royals or presidents, who are likely to be lured by the unique monumental and historical import of many mega-projects. This is the type of public exposure that helps get politicians re-elected. They therefore actively seek it out.
It is time TransLink stops its deliberate game of confusion with Metro Vancouver’s light-metro system, which has led to decades ill-advised investments, which has cost the taxpayer many times more for the present light-metro system, than it should have.
Metro Vancouver’s regional light-metro system, is called SkyTrain and the SkyTrain light-metro system is made up of two distinct railways:
The Canada Line, a conventional railway, built as a light metro and uses ‘off the shelf’ Electrical Multiple Units (EMU’s) currently supplied by ROTEM of Korea. As built, the Canada Line, with 40 metre to 50 metre long station platforms, has limited its maximum capacity to around 9,000 persons per hour per direction, as it can only operate two car train-sets, 41 metres long.
The Expo and Millennium Lines operate an unconventional, proprietary and often renamed light-metro system, now called Movia Automatic Light Metro (MALM), whose cars are only supplied by Alstom. Alstom purchased Bombardier’s rail division, which includes the MALM system and no other car manufacturer has an “off the shelf” operating vehicle, let alone a production line for such a vehicle, thus the transit system is deemed proprietary as there is only one supplier.
The SkyTrain Light-metro System to scale, including station platform lengths.
The MALM system uses linear induction motors (LIM’s) and is not compatible in operation with any other railway except its small family of six (Toronto has now ceased operation) systems.
The five previous names for MALM are, in descending order (owner of the proprietary railway in parenthesis):
Innovia Light Metro (Bombardier)
Advanced Rapid Transit (Bombardier)
Advanced Light Metro (Lavalin)
Advanced Light Rail Transit (the Urban Transportation Development Company)
Intermediate Capacity Transit System (the Urban Transportation Development Company)
The five other transportation authorities, operating MALM systems will either abandon operation when the cars and guideways become “life expired” or have signaled they are not going to expand their systems, leaving Vancouver the sole customer for MALM.
A technology bias exists at TransLink. Internationally the MALM system is considered long obsolete as it costs more to build, operate, and maintain than conventional light rail or even a heavy rail metro. Cities that built light-metro, such as Ottawa and Seattle, use light rail vehicles, as they are much cheaper to operate and far more flexible in operation, especially for future expansion.
TransLink continues to use this cunning method of manipulating analysis to justify SkyTrain in corridor after corridor, and thus succeeds in keeping its proprietary rail system expanding.
Gerald Fox, Noted American engineer, retired.
TransLink’s well oiled propaganda machine, churning out ”fake news” and “alternative facts” has created the local SkyTrain myth. The SkyTrain myth has fueled the SkyTrain Lobby, which repeats TransLink’s fake news so much that politicians and the public have come to believe the SkyTrain myth.
The Broadway subway is nothing more than an old style “politcal” gravy-train, inflating property values along its route.
The Broadway subway is testament to the power of the SkyTrain myth. Funding for the $2.83 billion Broadway subway has been approved, yet its foundation is one of half truths and questionable planning.
The North American Standard for building a subway is a transit route with traffic flows in excess of 15,000 persons per hour per direction (pphpd), yet peak traffic flows on the 99B Line is about 2,000 pphpd, based on 3 minute, peak hour headway’s. Maximum transit flows on Broadway are less than 4,000 persons per hour per direction!
TransLink’s two top planners were fired for their opposition to the subway, by publicly stating the obvious; that there wasn’t the ridership on Broadway to justify an almost $3 billion subway.
TransLink quite happily lets people believe that Broadway is the “most heavily used transit route in Canada“, but instead claims “This is our region’s most overcrowded bus route.”, when there is a threat of professional or legal accountability.
“The problem with TransLink is that you can never believe what it says; TransLink never produces a report based on the same set of assumptions.”
Former West Vancouver Clr. Victor Durman, Chair of the GVRD (now METRO) Finance Committee.
The former Mayor of Surrey’s flip flop from LRT to SkyTrain was also predictable, as the bureaucrats at TransLink did their best to ensure this would happen.
The well oiled SkyTrain Lobby was in full force with every bit of classic fake news and alternative facts they could muster, yet ignored the fact that MALM is now unsalable internationally and only seven such systems (with only six in operation) have been built in over forty years and no sales for the past 18 years!
The former Mayor of Surrey’s election claim that a SkyTrain extension from King George station to Langley City could be completed for $1.65 billion, was later exposed to be false, yet the Mayor’s Council on Transit, the Minister of Transportation took no action!
The fix was in!
The $1.65 billion figure pales when compared to the present estimate of $4.6 billion to $5.1 billion.
The cost of the Surrey/Langley/Line is so expensive that the provincial government has broken the one project into two projects in an attempt to hide the true cost.
The guideway project, with a cost estimate now of $4.1 billion.
The Operations and Maintenance Centre #5 project, which must be completed before the line can enter into revenue operation, is now estimated to cost $500 million to $1 billion on top of the now estimated $4.1 billion for the guideway! The stated costs do not include the costs for new vehicles.
TransLink, the provincial and federal governments stay mute on the true costs of extending the SkyTrain light-metro system.
With the NDP promising to complete the proprietary MALM railway to Langley, a very costly issue arises.
The aging Expo line is desperately in need of a major rehab. This rehab includes a major overhaul and expanded electrical supply; a new automatic train control system, all the switches being replaced on both the Expo and Millennium Lines to permit faster operation and all stations must be rebuilt to deal with the higher customer flows which come with a higher capacity. The rehab is said to cost between $3 billion to $4 billion and must be done before any extension to Langley is built.
TransLink has already signed a $1.47 billion resignalling contract with Thales, leaving the necessary and much needed electrical rehab and upgrades waiting for future funding.
The following quote from Thales’s news release should be of some interest
When the programme is fully implemented, the Expo Line will be able to accommodate 17,500 passengers per hour per direction, and the Millennium Line will be able to handle 7500 passengers per hour per direction, a 32% and 96% increase respectively.
The combined annual operating costs for the Broadway subway and the full Expo Line to Langley will exceed $70 million annually. Will this cost be taken from the regional bus system, to pay for two very questionable and politically frivolous transit projects?
If taxes are not greatly increased, this will certainly happen.
How is this to be funded?
Is a $4.6 to $5.1 billion expanding MALM 16km a good investment, especially when ridership on opening day, according to Translink, will be less than what the Broadway 99 B Line bus carried pre Covid?
By comparison, 2023 cost for The Rail for the Valley’s Leewood Study, for a 130 km, Vancouver (Marpole) to Chilliwack passenger service, using the former BC Electric Interurban Lines, servicing South Vancouver, South Burnaby, New Westminster, North Delta, Cloverdale, Langley, Abbotsford, Sardis and Chilliwack and connecting the many business parks, universities and colleges along the route, would cost under $1.7 billion.
TransLink does not support the Leewood Study’s Vancouver to Chilliwack rail service because it would outperform their $4.6 to $5.1 billion, 16 km extension to the Expo and Millennium Lines and very embarrassing questions would be asked.
“But, eventually, Vancouver will need to adopt lower-cost LRT in its lesser corridors, or else limit the extent of its rail system. And that seems to make some TransLink people very nervous.”
Gerald Fox
With major demographic changes taking place, a major rethink must be done on how we provide an affordable regional rail system. Metro Vancouver’s light-metro system has been well studied, yet those cities who have done so, have invested in light rail instead!
Why, after four decades of unprecedented investment in regional rail transit, has no one copied Vancouver’s light metro system, including the exclusive use of the proprietary MALM system?
Two of the Advanced Rapid Transit (ART) systems built in Malaysia and Korea have embroiled both the patent holders, SNC Lavalin and Bombardier in legal proceedings, including charges of bribery. For added insult, the American government refused to subsidize any ART system because it is overly expensive to build and operate and was poorly designed
Korea’s EverLine can only operate 1 car trains.
Because of this, the Canadian Overseas Development Bank funded the New York Port Authorities “Airtrain” (known as SkyTrain in Vancouver) to save embarrassment to Bombardier Inc., which have been good friends with the federal government.
New York’s AirTrain
It is time to put an end to MALM expansion or the provincial government and current mayors, will become like Marley’s ghost, dragging an ever longer chain made of empty cash-boxes, IOU’s, red ink, bare pursesand increased taxes wrought in union made steel, election, after election for decades to come.
Remember the FastFerries?
Today, TransLink continues to be toxic with taxpayers and extending MALM to Langley or continuing the Broadway subway to UBC will make TransLink and all who supported the gold-plated extensions radioactive politically, on a Chernobyl scale.
For forty years regional and civic transportation planners and engineers have got it wrong. But, because of very good, publicly funded PR machines in Victoria, and local cities and municipalities, plus the lack of any honest reporting by the mainstream media, regional politicians keep building with the obsolete light metro. Metro Vancouver’s SkyTrain light-metro system has convinced other cities to build with light rail because there is no advantage building the much more expensive light metro system.
It is time regional politicians rethink present regional rail transit planning, where today’s hugely expensive planning will exacerbate growing congestion and gridlock in the region and certainly greatly increase already high taxes. The SkyTrain light-metro system has become a politcal “tar-baby” and continues to be a showcase how Metro Vancouver’s regional transit planning has continued to get it wrong!
In the US, all new transit projects that seek federal support are now subjected to scrutiny by a panel of transit peers, selected and monitored by the federal government, to ensure that projects are analyzed honestly, and the taxpayer interests are protected. No SkyTrain project has ever passed this scrutiny in the US.
East Hastings Street, between downtown Vancouver and the PNE, could be targeted next for a TransLink rapid system as 
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