Around the US & Canada- Light Rail, Tram, Streetcar, LRT & Transit news
Late February has brought a mixed bag of news on Light Rail, Tram, Streetcar, LRT & Transit projects in North America, some positive & some negative. The Cardinal posts a selection of national, local press and on-line Blog reports. 1) Gray: Streetcars are a ‘Very Wise Decision’ Mayor Vincent Gray’s mixed track record with streetcars […]
More Porkies – The Port Mann Bridge
It has been said that a picture is worth a thousands words……………………….. ……………..but this picture of a cross section of the new ten lane Port Mann Bridge says it all – there is no rail transit being planned for the bridge! Even Zweisystem, with his rudimentary knowledge of engineering knows if that a bridge is […]
Staffing on light rail systems
From a previous post http://www.railforthevalley.com/latest-news/zweisystem/now-we-know-why-skytrain-is-so-expensive-to-operate/ we find that there are 600 or more employees (530 in the CUPE Union) that work on the SkyTrain Expo and Millennium Lines. The Canada Line is a conventional metro and employs over 200 people (with 180 in the CUPE union) and both metro systems are quite separate. The Canada Line, a […]
Light Rail Transit, LRT or Tram-Train
Tram and train used to be two entirely different public transport systems. Tram served shorter (read: urban) distances. Train served longer (read: regional) distances. But the difference between city and region has disappeared in much of Europe. The difference between tram and regional rail is blurring as well. A new generation of light rail transit […]
Tales of Buffoonery – Rob FordA?ai??i??ai???s anti streetcar/light rail saga continues!
Mr. Ford's utter stupidity is breathtaking and the financial roller coaster ride he is taking the Toronto taxpayer on is beyond belief. This is the sort of simpleton anti tram, anti light rail planning which seems to be the rigour of right-wing politicians in North America and Europe – to hide their real agendas of increasing car use, […]
First tram-train arrives in Lyon
France: Lyon Tram-Train Railway Gazette 22 February 2011 http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/single-view/view/first-tram-train-arrives-in-lyon.html The first of 24 Citadis Dualis tram-trains for the TER network west of Lyon arrived at the L’Arbresle maintenance centre on February 18, having left Alstomai??i??s assembly plant in Valenciennes two days earlier. Two more vehicles will be delivered to SNCF in Lyon during the next […]
LIGHT RAIL FIRM RELEASES INDEPENDENT ANALYSIS OF KEVIN FALCON TRANSIT STUDY
UPDATE: Media so far News1130Ai??http://www.news1130.com/news/local/article/187220–rail-group-provincial-report-biased Chilliwack TimesAi??http://www.chilliwacktimes.com/news/False+assumptions+worry+rail+expert/4325083/story.html Laila Yuile (2nd item in the post) Ai??http://lailayuile.com/2011/02/22/government-is-as-government-does/ LIGHT RAIL FIRM RELEASES INDEPENDENT ANALYSIS OF KEVIN FALCON TRANSIT STUDY At the request of Rail For the Valley, the rail firmAi??Leewood Projects LtdAi??hasAi??provided an analysisAi??of the recent MoTI Transit Study commissioned by former Transportation MinisterAi??Kevin Falcon, […]
BC Liberal Responses to Fraser Valley Transit Survey
In contrast to the Liberals, all NDP candidates responded positively to the survey, with top contenderAi??John HorganAi??going as far as explicitly stating his support for Light Rail as far east as Abbotsford and Chilliwack: ai???I support an at-grade light rail system through Surrey and Langley, eventually reachingAi??Abbotsford and even Chilliwack.”Ai??-John Horgan For many […]
Flagship BRT Fizzles in the USA
Bus Rapid Transit or BRT is the transit flavour ‘du jour’ of BC politicians. Any mention of transit in the region ultimately leads to BRT, as if it was the grand panacea to solve our transit woes. The trouble is, our politicos have never read a book about public transit,Ai??let aloneAi??perused the chapter on buses. […]
New French Tramways
Reims Tramway is under test:- http://www.lunion.presse.fr/article/marne/le-tram-a-lepreuve-du-feu http://www.tramwaydereims.fr/start.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reims_tramway and http://www.lineoz.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10893&sid=66eedf4b75d814adaceb51ca2f60e00f&p=306994#p306994 Map of the system:- http://www.mars-reims.fr/images/Panneau%20CITURA%20(800×1200).pdf Information on French Light Rail/Tram systems at: http://www.transbus.org/dossiers/tramway_projet.html Images of the new Alstom Citadis 302Ai??LRV’s
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