A MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND A SAFE NEW YEARS!

Rail for the Valley wishes all a Merry Christmas safe and happy New Years!

SkyTrain Was So Successful No One Wanted One!

Interesting article in the Hive, which is basically the mouthpiece for TransLink. The problem with SkyTrain is that it was a politcal decision and now with almost 45 years of deliberate misinformation and pro SkyTrain propaganda, the local media, especially with lazier younger reporters and journalists just do not do any research and print what […]

Dutch Regional Railways – A Model For The E&N?

Single track stub terminal station at Leeuwarden. (Harlingen–Nieuweschans Railway) Scheemda Station. Please note, cyclists use bicycles to commute to the station to take the train! (Harlingen–Nieuweschans Railway) A single stub terminal station at Stavoren. (Leeuwarden–Stavoren Railway) Franeker Station. Simple platform station with minimal amenities. (Harlingen–Nieuweschans Railway)

Toronto’s Transit Failures – Or Not Listening To The Experts!

The problem in Canada, with “rail” transit, especially light rail (LRT) is that politcans get involved and when politicians get involved, costs rise dramatically. Unlike Europe, Canadian University’s do not offer degrees in Urban Transport and the vast majority of Engineers and Planners who work on transit projects have little knowledge of what “light rail” […]

BRT – A View From a Canadian Transit Expert

Originally posted in 2015 I have updated the post but since very little has changed about BRT over the past decade, that there is little to update. Real BRT has reached its maximum potential, unless tree-articulated buses become the norm and that has made BRT a niche transit mode to deal with niche transit issues. […]

YouTube Does Not, A Transit Expert, Make

I was sent a following link The Transit “Experts” That Derail Transit. (click here) It is by a fairly well known YouTube type who has ‘taken the wrong tack’, but he has a large following. It is obvious that the author has a preference for metros and a disdain for light rail and in fact […]

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

First posted by zweisystem on Tuesday, July 7, 2020 Updated. As the clamour continues by Vancouver politicians for the federal government to fund the now $8 billion Broadway subway to UBC, TransLink stays largely mute and for good reason, they know in today’s politcal climate, the feds won’t be anteing up. As politcans recklessly promise […]

The Eglinton Story (Part2)

Please click here for part 1. Off the track Meddling politicians, a massive contract, multimillion-dollar lawsuits and a pandemic have turned the Eglinton Crosstown LRT into a 14-year project Jeff GrayQueen’s Park Reporter Toronto The Globe and Mail Published October 30, 2025 The eventual outcome on Eglinton, Mr. Miller charges, was predictable: The TTC had […]

The Eglinton Story (Part 1)

Off the track I do not know enough about Toronto’s Eglinton’s new LRT, to accurately comment on the project; only that portions of the system is definitely not LRT. That being said, this two part series from the Globe and Mail will help inform those on the other side of the mountains about this hugely […]

TTC Optimized: Designing an Improved 510-Spadina Streetcar Service

An interesting article about improving streetcar service on the 510 Adina route in Toronto. I would like to remind everyone, that light rail (LRT) is a modern streetcar operating on a ‘reserved’ or dedicated Rights-of-ways, thereby obtaining a performance of that of a heavy-rail metro at a fraction of the cost. A reserved, lawned rights-of-way […]