How to build light rail in our cities without emptying the public purse

An interesting read and quite pertinent to our transit situation in the lower mainland. Both the BRT and SkyTrain Lobby’s have so perverted the concept of modern light rail, to support their own projects, that the concept of affordable LRT has all but disappeared from the TransLink lexicon. The following quote; “……….while cities with rubber-wheeled […]

BRT- “just like light rail only cheaper” – NOT!

For Bus Rapid Transit, to be real BRT is must either have its own road or busway or it must be guided, using an exclusive guideway. Express buses, which operate in mixed traffic, with autos and commercial vehicles suffer the same issues as streetcars only slightly worse. Streetcars are cheaper to operate. In the UK, […]

Adios SkyTrain? Bombardier is selling off its rail division.

What would happen if the region continues to plan for SkyTrain, yet there is no SkyTrain? If a potential buyer for Bombardier’s rail division already has on the market it’s own proprietary railway or railways, they would probably discontinue SkyTrain which has not had a sale in over a decade and with one SkyTrain line […]

Light Rail questioned by Langley Township planner – Yesterday’s planning at work!

The same old cliched arguments about modern light rail have surfaced in Langley Township. What old Zwei finds so tiresome is that the some planners remains so uninformed about SkyTrain light-metro and modern light rail, think both are “rapid transit“. Transit is only as ‘rapid’ as it is designed to be. Sadly, the term “rapid […]

TramTrain for Hungary

From the International Railway Journal. As TransLink and the regional mayors still champion hugely expensive vanity projects for the region, TramTrain makes very good economic sense. A basic, bare-bones hourly service, using diesel light rail vehicles, from Vancouver to Chilliwack, would cost about $750 million. A more intense electric service, with a 20 minute service […]

Less expensive options?

Sounds familiar? One could ask the same for our regional transit planning. HS2: Government has no ‘convincing case’ for A?50bn rail line By Chris Johnston Business reporter The government has no convincing case for spending A?50bn building the HS2 rail link between London and the North, a report by the House of Lords Economic Affairs […]

The Compass Card – Another Gordon Campbell Fiasco!

The Compass Card fiasco is not really a TransLink problem, rather it is the epitome of why TransLink has problems; TransLink is a tool of the Premier’s Office and it must do the Premier’s bidding or face serious repercussions. Premier Gordon Campbell’s best friend, Ken Dobell, was the lobbyist for Cubit Industries makers of fare […]

Replacing the Fraser River Rail Bridge

Interesting item from the Netherlands. Dutch Engineers have been at the forefront at lift bridge technology for over a century, due to the many canals that traverse the country. The “tilting lock” would be especially beneficial to railways as there would no need for a lift span at all and trains could cross the bridge […]

The $14 billion transit plan the B.C. Liberals conveniently forgot about

How soon we forget, the BC Liberals had a $14 billion transit plan for Metro Vancouver and what ever happened to that? The following from Vancouver Buzz explains events from seven years go.

A discussion about TransLink

A new transit blog is in town and I think it is well worth a read. Called Inside TransLink, it gives an insider’s view of the organization and the many problems the exist, culminating with this rather destructive transit plebiscite. http://www.insidetranslink.ca/ The ways to improve TransLink, from a voice that saw the inside. Ai??There are […]