The End Of The Beginning

From Wikipedia: Kirk Lapointe was chosen by the Non-Partisan Association,Ai?? to be the party’s nominee for Mayor of Vancouver in the November 15, 2014 municipal election. Lapointe received 40% of the vote, coming in second behind incumbent mayor Gregor Robertson who received 46%. Following his defeat, LaPointe said he intends to put politics ai???in the […]

Ontario Could Get Half Of Ottawaai??i??s $3.4B Transit Infrastructure Money This Year

No surprise here, as Ontario holds the key for the Liberals reelection in three years hence and the Libs need some transit projects to cut ribbons in front of. BC, as always will get crumbs, but we well deserve it as regional politicians still want hugely expensive vanity projects so they can cut ribbons in […]

Could Daily Passenger Service Return to the Former BCR?

If there is to be a new passenger service on the former BCR route VIA Rail would be the operator. The return of the North Vancouver to Prince George passenger rail service is a good idea, both for travelers and for tourists. Leaving from downtown Vancouver would, I think, seal the deal. The Gordon Campbell […]

A Letter To Media and Politicians

ai??i??This letter went out to all the usual suspects, MP’s, MLA’s, and Mayors and Council.   There is a general naivete about Light Rail Transit or LRT in the media, due in part to TransLink’s and previously BC Transits thirty five year war on LRT, with their well advertised preference for light-metro. Today, except for […]

Rail for the Valley In The news

  From the Chilliwack Times. Dream of light rail from Chilliwack to Surrey isn’t dead The idea of creating light rail on the old interurban line from Chilliwack to Surrey may have faded in recent years, but proponents still want to see it happen and Coun. Sam Waddington says it’s inevitable. ai??i??Ai??image credit: File   […]

Surrey LRT – Paying More for Less

Modern lawned tramway in France, will be also be used in Liege. What I wish to illustrate that the 11 km, 21 stop Liege tramway, including 19 Citadis trams, will cost about CAD$51 million/km to build. As well, P-3’s are not a transit funding panacea. The $51 million/km to build is based on a very […]

BART’s Problems Today Are TransLink’s Problems Tomorrow

Aging metro systems are a big problem in North America and the more complicated the transit system, the more costly it is to maintain. Unlike TransLink, BART’s (Bay Area Rapid Transit) bureaucrats are far more forthcoming with system ills and for that they must be congratulated for their candor. We see none of this with […]

The Federal Budget – LRT Mentioned, But Not A Subway

The Federal budget did not hold any transit surprises, with $370 million to be spent over five years for transit project support. Well, $370 million will buy you about one kilometre of a Broadway subway or put another way, 200 metres a year spread over five years, big deal! We could build 2 km of […]

Of Trains, Station Platforms, and Capacity

Zwie has got wind of a local transit advocate getting a nasty phone call a few evenings back from a chap incensed over a blog post on Facebook that went like this: The Canada line has station platforms 40m to 50 m long and operates 41 m long coupled sets of EMU’s, has about one […]

Has Trudeau “Caved-In” To Bombardier?

Bombardier Inc. is in trouble with their aircraft program; are near bankruptcy and need cash. So what is the Federal government going to do? Simple buy Bombardier’s light-metro and call it light rail.Ai?? The same ruse certainly fooled the Social Credit Party in BC in 1980 by renaming the unsellable Urban Development Transportation Corporation (UDTC […]