The seamless (no transfer) journey – Transit’s Holy Grail!

A repost from 2009 – updated. Route 5 (tramtrain) travels from Worth t0 Bietigheim-Bissingen, through downtown Karlsruhe. It has been long known that the seamless or no transfer journey is the ‘ticket’ to attract customers to public transit as it is well understood that one could lose upwards of 70% of ridership per transfer, even […]

Streetcars and LRT, A Quick Primer

First published in the RftV blog in 2011, it is still pertinent today. Updated to August 2014. The silly season continues in the Vancouver region, with TransLink desperately trying to persuade regional mayors to levy more taxes to mainly pay for the Evergreen SkyTrain light-metro line and a SkyTrain subway under Broadway. The following is […]

We Must Welcome The 21st Century

Not really about urban rail, but still important for the planned Chilliwack interurban. Railways need to emerge from the 19th century into the 21st and the federal government must emerge from its 18thAi?? Laissez faire mentality. If France, the UK, and Germany can operate trams, in mixed traffic, on mainline railways, Canada can do it […]

Alstom Appitrack – Would Broadway Be A Good Candidate?

AppiTrack Alstomai??i??s fast automated tracklaying technology, Appitrack, was chosen as the Innovation of the Year at the 2011 Light Rail awards held in London on 5th October. The system allows for limited excavation depths in order to speed up track-laying time with the ability to lay up to 200 metres of track per day, compared […]

Continued Angst Over The Arbutus Corridor

The cries of, “shock and disbelief”, and hand wringing by those trespassing and keeping gardens on the CPR owned Arbutus Corridor is laughable. The media is now showing pictures of teary eyed children who weep for their lost beans and figs. Enough please. The Arbutus Corridor debate actually started with this quote at a transit […]

And How Much $1.6-1.9 Billion of Skytrain Will Buy You in Greater Vancouver?

As the title indicates, in the Waterloo region in Eastern Canada $1.6 to $1.9 billion will buy 37 km of modern LRT plus assorted transit technology and at least 10 km of BRT. One observation made by Haveacow is; ” this LRT system as it begins will not have the carrying capacity of the Skytrain […]

The Vancouver Province Shills For The Canada Line

40 metre to 50 metre station platforms limit the Canada line train to just two cars, severely limiting capacity. I see TransLink is calling in its markers from the mainstream media and a staff writer (infomercial maybe) has penned a puff piece for the Canada Line. No mention is made of the tens of thousands […]

Speaking of the Arbutus Corridor…………..

A Marpole bound interurban crosses 41st. Please note trolleybus and the overhead. ……. why TransLink will never support LRT on the Arbutus and why the City of Vancouver wants the ‘Arbutus” for a glorified bike lane. Evergreen Line is said to cost no more than $1.4 billion for just over 11 km of line and […]

Lotus Land In Shock with the CPR Reactivating The Arbutus Corridor

The Arbutus corridor Interurban near 37th The Arbutus corridor debate continues and Zwei has a made a few observations. Has anyone in the media ask Molsons if they want to once again use the railway for both delivery and export? Has anyone in the the media reported that the CPR has paid taxes since the […]

In 1986………….

In 1986, during the duration of Expo 86 in Vancouver there was a passenger rail service from New Westminster to Abbotsford. A British Rail Class 142 Pacer DMU at Abbotsford station in the summer of 1986. If it could be done in 1986, it can certainly be done in 2014. What is not said is […]