The Emperor has no Clothes and no Transit – A Repost From March 27, 2011

Vancouver is at first glance a beautiful city. It is surrounded by sweeping vistas and a dramatic skyline. The climate is moderate butAi??spend some time here and scratch the surface and it becomes far less attractive. It is a city that is divided politically; it is parochial, narrow minded and shallow. The people are characterless, […]

Liz James Takes On The TransLink Referendum

The fiery independent columnist Liz James is one of the few scribes that is willing to take on the TransLink behemoth with other than the political correctness that follows the issue. David Cockle, mentioned in Ms. James piece, is the very same David Cockle who did the famous Leewood/Rail for the Valley Study….. ….. and […]

The Dundee Circulator – The Affordable Tram, a Template for Broadway?

The following was sent to us by our friends in the UK. What should be of extreme interest is the low cost for the proposed Dundee tram compared to the sky high costs for light rail from TransLink! The example of the 13.5 km Portland streetcar is of great interest as the costs break down […]

New Prague streetcars reverse noise pollution

An overlooked benefit of streetcars is the reduction in noise pollution associated with bus and car traffic. In fact, some pedestrians in Prague say the newest streetcars from Skoda are too quiet! Latest streetcars in historic Prague. An article from iDnes, a Czech news portal, describes the experiences of operators of the new 15T streetcarsbuilt […]

Tram Train

A summary of the latestAi??EuropeanAi??Tram Train developments at the end of 2013. UK – Manchester: Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has created new plans which could see specially designed vehicles running on both street tracks and train tracks between Glossop and Manchester city centre. http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/tram-trains-could-link-glossop-up-6312282 Manchester to explore future tram-train network Councillors in Manchester have […]

What $536 Million Will Buy You, Part 2 – A Rail for the Valley TramTrain

The Leewood Study Diesel Hybrid option Stage 1 Phase 1. It is as simple as that. http://www.railforthevalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/chilliwacktosurreyinterurbanfinalreportr.pdf – Chilliwack to Scott Road [Diesel/hybrid option] summary capital cost . CAD $491,819,424.00 (CAD $5.02m per km)

A very merry Christmas

Christmas tram in Budapest A very merry Christmas from Rail for the Valley  

Light Rail News from around the World

Hong Kong Tram operator proposes $2.8b Kai Tak line http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=4&art_id=140343&sid=41066028&con_type=1&d_str=20131206&fc=8 Hong Kong Tramways has proposed building a HK$2.8 billion tram system for the Kai Tak site. Under the tram operator’s proposal, there will be 23 stations in the system, which will link Kai Tak pier, Ngau Tau Kok and Kowloon Bay MTR stations in 2018. […]

Stadler LRV’s – Croydon [London] Tramlink

An official video promoting the new Stadler trams and Croydon Tramlink. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR-paeQhIXU and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRMvP-WC0ms

Toronto TTC – New Streetcar Implementation Plan

TorontoAi??TTC new streetcar implementation http://www.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Commission_reports_and_information/Commission_meetings/2013/June_24/Reports/New_Streetcar_Implem.pdf TTC Low Floor LRV Roll Out Plan Released (Update 3) Posted on June 25, 2013 by Steve Updated June 25, 2013:Ai?? At the June 24 Commission meeting, CEO Andy Byford presented further details of the roll out plan.Ai?? This information is added to the end of the article along with […]