This article should give a good indication of the cost of modern light rail being built today.
The proposed Utsunomiya LRT, is of course narrow gaugeAi?? and will have somewhat narrower trams, with a reduced capacity than LRT built inAi?? Canada, but it is the cost of construction which is important.
The 14.6 km., 19 station LRT line, which operates mostly in a central reservation will cost an estimated USD $451 (CAD $594) to build.
Thus the Utsunomiya LRT will cost about CAD $41 million/km to build, within today’s cost range of between $25m/km to $45m/for new build LRT.
As well, two cities and three private companies are paying a large share of construction costs, which gives the public the assurance that the project is both well designed and a good investment.
Compare with Surrey’s proposed LRT, with construction costs now over $100 million/km and absolutely no private funding is forthcoming, including the City of Surrey which the project is to serve.
The “Shambles in Surrey” is an apt name for current transit planning (both SkyTrain and LRT) which is obviously being done by amateurs with absolutely no knowledge of modern light rail or modern public transit practice!
JAPANai??i??s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MILT) announced on September 26 that it has approved plans for the construction of a 14.6km light rail line in Utsunomiya, the capital of Tochigi prefecture north of Tokyo.
Running largely on the central reservation of highways, the double-track east-west line will link the Honda research and development facility in the town of Haga with JR Eastai??i??s Utsunomiya station, which is served by the Tohoku Shinkansen, Tohoku Main Line and Nikko Line.
The line will have 19 stations, four of which will be located in Haga with the remainder in Utsunomiya. Passing loops will be constructed at two stations to enable express services to overtake all-stations local services. The journey time between the terminus stations will be 38 minutes for express services and 44 minutes for locals.
Services will be operated by a fleet of 17 30m-long, 2.65m-wide low-floor LRVs, each capable of accommodating up to 155 passengers. The 1067mm-gauge line will be electrified at 750V dc and trams will operate at up to 70km/h on segregated sections of the route.
The Yen 45.8bn ($US 451m) project is being funded by the city of Utsunomiya (40.8%), the town of Haga (10.8%), Tochigi Light Rail (22.8%), Kanto Auto Works (10%), and Tobu Railway Company (4%), with the remainder coming from other sources.
It now seems Ontario’s big subway plans are costing more, a lot more to build than what was first proposed as exampled by the Toronto York Spadina Subway Extension, whose cost soared over from $1.5 billion to $3.2 billion!
TransLink is blithely planning away for both a hugely expensive SkyTrain subway under Broadway and an equally expensive, yet extremely ill-planned LRT for Surrey, oblivious to the extremely high costs and dubious outcomes for both projects.
But what would one expect from the career bureaucrats, who are afraid to come clean on the real cost of both projects, TransLink is afraid to come clean on the real costs of the proprietary SkyTrain light-metro!
With TransLink, it is never about providing good transit planning, rather it is to make the taxpayer’s poor as those in TransLink, earning six figured salaries, don’t have any concept on those who cannot afford to pay more taxes for their ill planned excesses.
Toronto is sounding alarm bells, but on the West Coast, TransLink remains deaf.
Workers at the York University stop of the Spadina subway extension during a media tour in January. The project’s budget has been exceeded by over a billion dollars and KPMG’s report offers ideas on how to avoid that familiar phenomenon in future.Ai??Ai??(Andrew Francis Wallace / Toronto Star)
A review of the TTCai??i??s procurement policies is raising red flags about the transit agencyai??i??s ability to manage expensive capital projects, detailing billions of dollars in cost overruns and oversight practices that fall below public-sector standards.
The report, which will be debated at Wednesdayai??i??s TTC board meeting, was authored by consulting firm KPMG. The company examined nine capital projects that the TTC launched over the past decade-and-a-half and had combined initial estimated costs of $5.1 billion. Of the nine, six incurred inflated expenses that together totalled $2.9 billion more than original estimates.
They included the Toronto York Spadina Subway Extension, whose cost soared over from $1.5 billion to $3.2 billion, and the Leslie Barns streetcar facility, whose price jumped from $345 million to $507 million. Three of four smaller-scale capital projects KPMG studied also saw budgets rise above initial projections.
The report, which council commissioned in March 2015, determined that the TTC is operating at a ai???low-standardized level of maturityai??? in the delivery of capital projects. Thatai??i??s below KPMGai??i??s benchmark for public-sector organizations. KPMG scored one TTC department as operating at an ai???informalai??? level, which means the consultant found that projects lacked documentation and standardized policies.
The truth is very simple, subways are very expensive to build, as TransLink found out with the Canada Line.
We have to remember that the cost of the Canada Line soared past the first estimated cost of $1.3 billion, to around $2.7 billion. The Gordon Campbell Liberal government then forced TransLink to reduce the scope of the project, resulting in a peewee rapid transit system, with 40 metre long station platforms and able only to operate two car trains. Even then, the cost of construction the Canada Line, which has been craftily obscured by the P-3 contract, is around $2.2 to $2.4 billion.
Added to this, the P-3 consortium operating the Canada Line receives over $110 million annually from TransLink to operate the midget metro, three to four times more than comparable light-rail operations.
As reported here, the Vancouver Sun estimated that the Canada Line cost five times as much per hour to operate than the rest of the ALRT/ART SkyTrain system,
I repeat once more, the Canada line is the only heavy rail metro in the world, built as a light metro and has less capacity than a simple streetcar.
The cost of the Broadway subway today in all likelihood is now past $3 billion and like the Canada Line, the scope of the project is being reduced to reduce costs.
There is the fear, that the Broadway subway may be like the Canada Line, with greatly reduced capacity to save money.
This graph is about 10 years old, but certainly shows that subway construction is very expensive indeed.
The graph is in miles, not kilometres and US Dollars. Today the costs would be much, much more in Canadian dollars
After its Mayorsai??i?? Council endorsed a plan to raise property taxes and hike transit fares to begin its expansion, TransLink is refusing to provide the …
A week after its Mayorsai??i?? Council endorsed a plan to raise property taxes and hike transit fares to begin its expansion, TransLink is refusing to provide the latest cost estimates for the biggest items on its long-term wish list.
*
The Broadway subway and Surrey light rail were estimated in 2014 to cost $1.98 billion and $2.14 billion, respectively. Last March, City of Surrey rapid transit project manager Paul Lee admitted rising real estate prices had pushed the Surrey proposalai??i??s estimated budget to $2.6 billion.
*
The public portion of the Sept. 23 quarterly meeting contained no mention about either project. Business in Vancouver asked TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond at a post-meeting news conference for an update and whether the cost estimates had increased by a billion dollars each.
*
ai???Weai??i??re not prepared to talk about what the estimates are,ai??? Desmond said. ai???Itai??i??s during that period of time in the months ahead that we [will] further will pin down the cost estimates going forward. By the time weai??i??re ready to proceed with the investment plan on phase two, weai??i??ll be in a much better position to have more accurate estimates associated.ai???
*
On March 30, TransLink CFO Cathy McClay admitted the cost estimates had gone up, but she wouldnai??i??t provide numbers. She said consultants were given extra time, until June 30, to deliver their reports. She blamed the high cost of real estate and the decrease in the loonieai??i??s buying power for materials.
*
In early 2015, Steer Davies Gleave and Hatch Mott MacDonald were hired on a $1.56 million conceptual design and cost estimate study for the Surrey proposal. They subcontracted Stantec (TSX:STN), Via Architecture, Anthony Steadman and Associates and the Stewart Group. Stantec is leading the $1.4 million study on the Broadway proposal with subcontractors Jacobs Associates, Golder Associates, Allen Parker Consulting, Site Economics, Westco Consulting, Edward LeFlufy Urban Design & Architecture, Locke & Locke, Dessau, BTY Group and Anthony Steadman and Associates.
*
ai???These are both very, very complicated projects and you go thorough a design process that is highly iterative,ai??? Desmond said. ai???During a prolonged design and engineering process for very complicated public works projects you go through eventually value engineering exercise as well, and weai??i??re not there yet.ai???
A September 8 report that was not tabled or mentioned at the meeting, but released online afterward, said TransLink ai???is targetingai??? the fourth quarter of 2016 to submit business cases to the federal and B.C. governments to fund the two projects.
The Rapid Transit Projects Update by Sany Zein, acting vice-president of infrastructure managing and engineering, referred to the projects as the South of Fraser Rapid Transit (Phase 1) and Millennium Line Extension (Broadway).
The June 2016 federal and B.C. agreement on funding the first phase of TransLink expansion includes $157 million for project development and advancement works on the two megaprojects.
ai???Federal government representatives indicate that the second phase of [funding] may include the balance of senior government funding required for implementation,ai??? Zein wrote.
TransLink has set up project boards including representatives of PartnershipsBC, Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development and TransLink, along with Vancouver and Surrey staff. But communicating with the public is not in the cards, meaning the Mayorsai??i?? Council is likely to approve fare hikes and property tax increases later this fall without disclosing the latest cost estimates to the public.
ai???Rapid transit project teams follow a communications protocol developed jointly with the City of Vancouver and City of Surrey,ai??? Zein wrote. ai???No significant public communications are anticipated in the current phase of work. The individual projects are developing forward-looking plans for consultation and communications activities in later phases in the development of the projects.ai???
Meanwhile, Desmond declined to comment on the impending sale of the Oakridge Transit Centre to Intergulf Development Group. BIV sources say the transaction for the 13.8 acre, mixed-use residential building opportunity could be worth as much as $400 million.
ai???We have no further information on that property transaction at this point in time,ai??? Desmond said.
The world’s first crowd-funded train route is about to be launched in Germany.
ai???We are all ready to roll,ai??? Derek Ladewig, CEO and founder of Locomore, told E&T on the closing day of Innotrans, the worldai??i??s largest railway exhibition, in Berlin last Friday.
Founded in 2007 with the aim to provide an alternative to the Deutsche Bahn, it took Locomore nine years to reach its fundraising target of 780,000 euros ai??i?? the sum that will allow to run trains on the route between Berlin and Stuttgart (via Frankfurt and Hannover).
Locomore made history by successfully using crowdfunding – asking a large number of people to donate a small amount of money each – as a way of financing a new rail line.
In this case, the funds were raised primarily by selling ticket and catering vouchers, T-shirts, mugs and other travel-related goodies.
Unlike many other train operators, Locomore is going to sacrifice high speeds to the commitment of being greener than most. It says the route will be powered by high-quality renewable energy. Its locomotivesai??i?? maximum speed will be 200km/h, and lower energy consumption will result in lower running costs and consequently lower fares, with free seat reservations, insignificant cancellation fees and free travel for children under 14 accompanied by an adult.
The standard starting prices will be sevenAi??euros for short journeys, 13 euros for mid-range journeys and 20 euros for longer distances. Depending on the number of bookings, those could vary, but the maximum fare will always be less than half of what is charged for the same journey by Deutsche Bahn, which dominates the German market at present as the countryai??i??s virtually sole provider of long-distance passenger services.
Locomore makes an emphasis on passengersai??i?? comfort, and its trains will all have spaces for bicycles, special childrenai??i??s and family compartments, as well as spacious business sections. The food served on the trains will be organic and fair trade.
At Innotrans in Berlin, Ladewig showed E&T a sample Bmz passenger coach ai??i?? a former Bm-235, specially refurbished by Atelierele CFR Grivita, Bucharest to fit the product design of Locomore. The bright orange car is equipped with emergency brake bypass, vacuum toilets and a new Icomera Wi-Fi System.
ai???We are confident of success due to our moving prices and all the new comforts,ai??? said Ladewig.
The first Locomore trains will start running between Stuttgart and Berlin on 14 December 2016.
John Horgan and the NDP just do not get it and they never will and by only consulting with the party faithful, all they have is a self-serving transit and transportation policy that is both unaffordable but unworkable.
TransLink does not have an income problem, they have a spending problem; the spend far too much on extremely expensive light metro construction and operation, draining monies from other transit projects. Throwing more money at transitAi?? and transportation will fail miserably.
What is needed is a fresh look at the transit issue and the NDP seem utterly incapable of doing this, lest they upset a special interest group.
Sorry John, you have blown it on the transit ticket and you and your party’s gross ignorance of modern public transport practice is a damning indictment of the provincial NDP!
NDP leader John Horgan vows to boost transit in Metro Vancouver
UBCM 2016 address by the Leader of the Opposition John Horgan on Sept. 29, 2016. [PNG Merlin Archive] UBCM
Provincial NDP leader John Horgan recommitted Thursday to a massive transit plan to get goods and people moving across the province, particularly in traffic-heavy Metro Vancouver.
HorganAi??told delegates at the annual Union of B.C. Municipalities convention that if in powerAi??he would work with mayors and councils and ai???not pick fightsai??? with them over local priorities, such as Metro Vancouverai??i??s 10-year transportation plan. He added that his governmentAi??wouldnai??i??t tell municipal politicians to ai???suck it upai??? when it comes to funding orAi??build ai???one offai??? pet projects. He gave as an example the $3.5-billion Massey Bridge.
ai???(The B.C. LiberalsAi??are) a government that doesnai??i??t get it,ai??? Horgan said in an election-style speech.Ai??ai???Weai??i??re expecting a million more people by 2040. Every community benefits from transit expansion in Metro Vancouver.Ai??Itai??i??s not urban versus rural or us and them.ai???
Horgan said his party will launch a 20-year infrastructure strategy to get goods moving across the province, create jobs and ai???break the B.C. Liberal roadblockai??? when it comes to transportation. The NDPAi??will alsoAi??boostAi??B.C.ai??i??s capital share of projects from 33 per cent to 40 per centAi??and reduce local governmentai??i??s contribution from 17 per cent toAi??10 per cent. He promised to create 43,000 job and $4.5 billion in investment across the province with projects likeAi??four-laning the highway from Kamloops to the Alberta border.
Horgan estimates the strategy will cost the province an extraAi??$50 million a year, but will beAi??ai???good news to those in small towns stuck in their cars.ai???
ai???The B.C. Liberals put their priorities ahead of the community,ai??? HorganAi??said. ai???I want to make it absolutely clear to mayors and councils in all corners of B.C. that I will be on their side and not picking fights.ai???
Zwei believes the old child’s song should be updated to:
Pattullo bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down
Pattullo Bridge is falling down…………………………………
I will repeat the Tuesday, February 16, 2016 post about the Pattullo Bridge.
Both the Pattullo and the Fraser River rail bridges have well past their ai???best byai??? dates
and desperately are in need of replacement.
In 1978, the GVRD were poised to install a three leg light rail system on the region and to cross the Fraser river a new bridge would have to be built.
Demonstrating the forward thinking of the era, so sorely lacking today,Ai?? GVRD planners conceived a multi-use bridge tp replace both the aging Patullo Bridge and the single track and down right decrepit Fraser River rail bridge, to service:
Mainline railways (2 track lift span)
LRT (two tracks)
Ai??Cyclists (two cycle paths)
Vehicles (four lanes)
The envisioned bridge, includingAi?? a ai???fastai??i?? lift span for the railway line, would have given ample capacity, including a Vancouver to Chilliwack rail service which was envisaged at the time.
It is now history, as the provincial government imposed SkyTrain on the region and a stand alone SkyTrain, Sky Bridge was built instead and a replacement for the badly aging Pattullo Bridge is about a decade away and a replacement for the absolutely decrepit Fraser River Rail Bridge is no where in sight.
Today, the provincial Liberal government is going to spend $3.5 billion or more on a single ten lane ai???vanityai??? bridge to replace the recently refurbished Massey Tunnel, while at the same time, the Patullo and Fraser River Rail bridges continue rot away.
Would it not be better to invest the $3.5 billion on a new tube to complement the existing Massey Tunnel and a new multi use bridge to replace the previous aging road and rail bridges, while at the same time bring transit improvements to South of the Fraser?
Maybe metro Vancouver should dust off the 1978 rail/road bridge and build it to replace both decaying bridges?
Maybe regional mayors should set aside their political allegiances and do what should be done?
Our friend Haveacow is working on the Ottawa LRT and has reported that the Belfast Maintenance and Storage Facility Yard is now officially energized. Here are a few more pictures of the East Segments that will soon be powered up.
The OCS (Overhead Contact System) or the Catenary Wires are now onAi?? in the Belfast Yard maintenance and Storage Facility. This is the firstAi??step to begin vehicle testingAi??for the Confederation LineAi??here in Ottawa. Over the next few weeks sections of the yard access track will be energized. After that, mainline sections will be activated leading west to Trembley Road Station and then in controlled phases heading east all the way to Blair Station. The stations on this section of the line will all be complete by January or February 2017. Many are ahead of schedule.
The other SkyTrain is also having operational problems, including power issues, with system wide shutdowns.
Well, at least in Malaysia, when their transit system goes Ka-Put, the transit customers do get free rides. With TransLink it’s adios sucker, we know you will have to take SkyTrain whether you like it or not!
The reason the TransLink is making the change may prove rather interesting.
The story starts with the old Broadway-Lougheed rapid transit project which was planned for light rail operating from Arbutus and Broadway to Lougheed Mall and the Tri-Cities. This is the transit line that the NDP (under the leadership of Glen Clark and Joy McPhail) government of the day flipped flopped from LRT to the obsolete SkyTrain light-metro system.
It is obvious that the NDP of the day did not care about good transit or a user friendly transit system and by forcing an expensive SkyTrain solution which ensured only part of the original line could be built.
Thus was born the Evergreen Line, the bastard child of the Millennium Line.
Now engineers at the time did not want limit line operation and realizing that a seamless journey to downtown Vancouver would attract ridership, planned for a “Y” junction at Lougheed mall for future considerations, permitting Tri-City transit customers to take trains to Vancouver, via New West and the Expo Line, or customers taking transit via the Millennium Line and transferring to the Expo Line at Broadway.
Now, with visions of the $3 billion subway under Broadway to Arbutus, and cost overruns on the Evergreen Line, all thoughts of a “Y” junction at Lougheed Mall vanished. Now with no planned junction at all, transit customers from the Tri-Cities wishing to go to New West must transfer at Lougheed Mall and for customers wishing to go to Surrey, two transfers; one at Lougheed Mall and the other at Columbia Street Station.
Not good transit planning at all, especially when it has been proven over and over again that forced transfers deter ridership.
Sadly, the new CEO, Kevin Desmond, hasn’t a clue and why he is CEO of TransLink.
Changes are coming to the Expo and Millennium SkyTrain line
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) ai??i?? If you ever use SkyTrain youai??i??ll want to know about this ai??i?? changes are coming to the Expo and Millennium lines ahead of the Evergreen extension coming online in December.
The Expo line will have two routes, both will start at Waterfront but one will run to King George and the other will go to Production-Way University station.
The Millennium Line will no longer go to waterfront instead running between VCC-Clark and Lougheed Town Centre before eventually connecting with the Evergreen line.
ai???Mid-October we are going to be doing some testing to make sure that we can operate the whole system effectively and make sure that our staff are familiar with the Evergreen extensions, all the stations and how to drive trains in that area,ai??? explains Ian Fisher with the BC Rapid Transit Company.
TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond calls this a milestone to celebrate, ai???we are focused on helping our customers make a smooth transition to the new operating pattern. By doing this well in advance of opening the Evergreen extension, we are giving our customers a chance to adjust and learn how the changes may affect how they travel on our system.ai???
Kelly Sinoski![UBCM 2016 address by the Leader of the Opposition John Horgan on Sept. 29, 2016. [PNG Merlin Archive]](http://wpmedia.vancouversun.com/2016/09/ubcm-2016-address-by-the-leader-of-the-opposition-john-horga.jpeg?quality=55&strip=all&w=840&h=630&crop=1)
Recent Comments