A SkyTrain Carol

The following is an Email I sent to metro Vancouver mayor’s and Councils. Yes I know it is long and from the response I got, such as lectures by Mayors for not crafting long Emails indicates I hit a nerve. I also copied it politcal leaders and the Mayor’s Council on Transit. Why? I want […]

Perils Of Driverless Operation

Really? At first glance one wonders why? Why the need for a bus bridge and huge inconvenience for light-metro customers? The real problem is this, automatic (driverless) transit systems, for all the expensive kit, cannot deal with problems unlike a system with a driver. The real problem is that the train may hit a person […]

Burning Bus Blues

Before TransLink goes hog wild buying battery buses, there is a slight problem, the tend to catch fire.     Third electric London bus catches fire after two burst into flames earlier this month Firefighters tackled the blaze in a bus garage in Putney An electric bus has caught fire in London, making it the […]

The 1986 LRTA Study: Bus – LRT – Metro Comparison

From 2016 I have not reprinted this for a while, but I see a rise of anti-LRT cods-wallop on local and social media and a reply must be made. Every year I reprint this post to remind everyone of the ability to move large amount of people at an affordable cost. There is an ongoing […]

The Bergen Line

The Bergen Line or the Bergen Railway (Norwegian: Bergensbanen or Nynorsk: Bergensbana), is a 371-kilometre (231 mi) long scenic standard gauge railway line between Bergen and Hønefoss, Norway. The name is often applied for the entire route from Bergen via Drammen to Oslo, where the passenger trains go, a distance of 496 kilometres (308 mi). […]

New Skoda Trams

  The Prague tramway network is the largest tram network in the Czech Republic, consisting of 144 km (89 mi) of track, 882 tram vehicles (one of the largest fleets in the world) and 26 daytime routes, 2 historical and 10 night routes with a total route length of 518 km (322 mi). It is […]

Let’s Take The train From Narvik – The Ofoten Line

I have become somewhat addicted to the HD driver’s view cams of Scandinavia, especially Norway and Sweden. The Ofoten Line is a must see video! The scenery is stark, rugged and awe inspiring. The single track Ofoten Line sees  tourist trains, regular passenger trains, freight trains and twenty-four or more ore trains use daily! The […]

The Foynes-Limerick Rail Line

If you want to reduce auto use, you must provide a affordable and user -friendly alternative. The Irish government believes that and is rebuilding a former rail line as a cheaper and more environmentally friendly way to provide affordable and user-friendly transportation. The cost is €104 million (CAD $152 million) for 42 km of reinstated […]

A Cost Comparison of Transportation Modes

A Cost Comparison of Transportation Modes The 2009 study by UBC Professor Patrick Condon, the James Taylor chair in Landscape and Livable Environments at the University of British Columbia’s School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture and the founding chair of the UBC Urban Design program can be read by clicking on the title. Though the […]

If you tell a SkyTrain lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.

This is an updated post from 2009.   The title quote by Joseph Goebbels, famed Nazi propagandist, aptly describes the SkyTrain lobby’s and BC Transit/TransLink’s thirty year long propaganda campaign to sell SkyTrain and discredit modern light rail. The many pro-SkyTrain blog sites that offer little in fact, but much unfounded rhetoric. All the bumf […]