“We do not have to watch reruns of Monty Python for our amusement, we just have to tune in to Vancouver’s transit planning for our entertainment”

It is now 2017 and the transit year is off with a dull thud. The title comes courtesy of an old transit acquaintance from the UK who was badly burned by his Canada Line experience. With the planned Pattullo Bridge replacement bridge having only 4 traffic lanes; the Surrey Hawthorne Park road debacle (where a […]

A Question Of Capacity Reprinted from the Light Rail Transit Association

A QUESTION OF CAPACITY THE CAPACITIES of different modes of transport are generally quoted as 0-10 000 passengers per hour for bus, 2000-20 000 for light rail, and 15 000 upwards for heavy rail.     * Maximum capacity is only likely to be required for a few hours during peak hours, and even here […]

Fear of Subway Costs Grips Mayors Council

As our friend, Haveacow indicated some time ago, the Broadway subway is going to cost a lot more than many think. Some years ago, Zwei entered into correspondence with a German transit Engineer, Wolfgang and he warned of subway construction and operating costs, which hobbled German transit authorities and also lead to the rebirth of […]

The Big Shake Up

Good news everyone, there has been a shake up at TransLink and Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan is at the helm of the Mayor’s Council on Transit. Mayor Corrigan is the only mayor who actually has knowledge of transit and transit operation as he was a former CEO of BC Transit. The rest of the metro […]

Commuter Rail Is Passe – It Is The Age Of TramTrain!

The anti-rail brigade is hard at it on Vancouver Island and there is a good reason why. The author of the piece, consults with SNC Lavalin (a major red flag there)Ai?? and SNC Lavalin only wants high profit projects. Example 1: The Canada line faux P-3 consortium, lead by SNC Lavalin,Ai?? receives about $110 million […]

Scarborough Subway Sticker Shock

More info on the Scarborough controversy. First, modern LRT can carry more than 15,000 pphpd, in fact modern LRT can carry well over 20,000 pphpd. In Karlsruhe Germany, one tram line carried over 35,000 pphpd in the peak hour! Toronto’s old Bloor Danforth streetcar line, using coupled sets of PCC cars were known to move […]

King Street Welcomes Toronto to the 21st Century

Toronto’s King Street experiment, bringing 21st century tram philosophy to Toronto and has opened a great many eyes. What has happened is simple, on portions of King Street, the streetcar has been turned into light rail at very little cost. There is no war on the car, rather priority has been given to transit customers […]

Pssst…..Some One Please Tell TransLink Subways Get Dirty

Zwei was not kidding about the issue of cleaning subway lines. Due to the nature of train action in a subway, the piston like force of air that is in front of every train as it traverses the tunnel, creates a sandblasting effect on the electrics and signalling. Then, the oily dirt and debris coming […]

In BC – The Government Don’t

As our politicians, planners and selected academics, offer more and more studies, in an attempt of achieving nothing, by spending a great amount of time doing studies. The railway fraternity in the UK, don’t study, they do! The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway has reopened after being abandoned and scrapped over 80 years ago. The narrow […]

The Driverless Car – Much Ado About Nothing

For those who think the driverless car will usher in the demise if “rail” transit, think again. Quote: “A growing number of metro regions, including the Bay Area, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Atlanta, and Toronto, have now reached the physical point where the car is no longer an effective technology for moving […]