A Replacement For the Fraser River Rail Bridge?

Interesting article in the Vancouver Sun that Surreyai??i??s light rail bid could have edge in federal funding over Vancouverai??i??s Broadway subway line. What is of more importance for Rail for the Valley is the replacement of the decrepit Fraser river rail bridge which lies in the shadows of the Patullo Bridge. The present single track […]

The Politics of Fear

It seems if all else fails for the TransLink referendum, scare the people to vote for yes for more money. This is called the politics of fear. The harsh facts are that three LRT lines in Surrey and a SkyTrain subway under Broadway will not alleviate traffic congestion in the region! To be successful, transit […]

Clarity With Transit and TransLink ….. Ha, Ha, Ha!

The TransLink referendum continues to provide angst with politicians and TransLink and so it should, because both parties really haven’t a clue about public transit. The new Chair of TransLink, Marcella Szel.Ai?? A former Canadian Railway executive and Port Authority director, has absolutely no background in urban transit and seems to have been chosen because, […]

Bus Stops

From the well duh department, that getting rid of some bus stops can improve service, has been well known for decades. In Europe bus stops tend to be 350m to 400m apart, but in Vancouver bus stops tend to be 250m to 300m apart, with some examples no more than 100m apart. It is easy […]

TransLink Referendum Mayhem

Welcome to the BC Liberal world of transit, where transit or should I say transit mega-projects are a means for winning elections, nothing more. The Canada Line is a good example, where ten BC Premier wanted to showcase a transit P-3, but the problem arose that SkyTrain, being a proprietary railway, made near to impossible […]

Cuiaba, Brazil – new LRT won’t be ready for World Cup

Thank you Mr. Haveacow for pointing out the error of my ways. Well, for the BRT crowd, who continue to claim that Curitiba Brazil was BRT heaven, it must come as a shock that they are building LRT in the city of Cuiaba, Brazil. Remember, the Curitiba BRT was all about the International Monetary Fund […]

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 […]

Canada Line airport surcharge to hit more (ghost) riders

Maybe, just maybe that the expected numbers of people expected to take the Canada line to YVR was grossly overestimated to secure YVR’s money for a light-metro/subway connection to Vancouver. YVR contributed about $300 million to the Canada Line on the condition that a downtown to YVR service would be no longer than 25 minutes. […]

Three bidders vie for Waterloo LRT contract

THREE consortia have submitted bids to the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, for the $C 536m ($US 505m) PPP contract to design, build, operate, and maintain the city’s first light rail line. http://www.railjournal.com/index.php/north-america/three-bidders-vie-for-waterloo-lrt-contract.html?channel=542&goback=%2Egde_88283_member_5819124411105570817#%21