The SkyTrain MK. 3 – The End of an Era?

  The new Mk.3 car is really a tarted up Mk.2 car, with one noticeable difference, the MK.3 sets now include a powered “saloon” vehicle, gangwayed at both ends. This will enable TransLink operate 3-car trains. The problem with the proprietary SkyTrain is that they cannot operate larger cars than the present MK.2’s do to […]

The Sum of Zwei’s Fears – Part 3 The New FastFerry Fiasco

It is interesting indeed that Vancouver Sun columnist, Vaughn Palmer is writing about transit and the two massively expensive rapid transit projects, the Surrey LRT and the Broadway subway. With both federal and provincial backing, these two ill conceived projects will cripple transit planning for the next quarter century. In the long term at least, […]

Signal Failure – The Achilles Heel of a Driverless Light Metro

Portend of what is going to be more and more common on SkyTrain, signal failure. As our SkyTrain ages, more and more service is disrupted by signal or a switch failure and with almost no redundancy in our transit system, the results for the transit customer is a fiasco! The lesson is simple, the more […]

Talking Though One’s Hat – Doug McCallum on SkyTrain

Talking through one’s hat,  definition: Talk nonsense; especially on a subject that one professes to be knowledgeable about but in fact is ignorant of. This is exactly what former Surrey mayor and current morality candidate, Doug McCallum is doing. As  Mr. Cow, our expert from Ontario, said; ” You can expand SkyTrain to  Langley, there […]

Horgan’s FastFerry – Another NDP Fiasco!

I do not agree much with Vaughn Palmer, but I think he has twigged to the fact not all is right with current transit planning. When Postmedia allows unpleasant news about SkyTrain, one knows things are amiss. The realities of subway construction are coming home to roost and it will be a very unpleasant surprise […]

Much Ado About Nothing

Today’s photo-op with Premier Horgan and Prime Minister Trudeau was nothing more than an attempt to try to boost their flagging political base. Nothing like a re-announcement of a re-announcement to get the rubes all excited. It is also a subtle message to the SkyTrain Lobby in Surrey and the LRT lobby in Vancouver, that […]

The $11 billion Solution!

It seems our politicians and political wannabees are living in a financial ennui. The massive costs of our current transit planning are being ignored, with the rah, rah rant of the various rapid transit promoters glossing over the real costs of their various pet projects. Our so called experts ignore the costs and it is […]

Watch The Lawsuits Fly!

There will be no SkyTrain to Langley. Comments from real experts, you know they type, guys and gals who plan, design and operate transit systems, have all said, almost in union, that SkyTrain will not be built to Langley. The terse comments by people who actually know what they are talking about, should give cause […]

The Vancouver SkyTrain Executive Committee – Looks Good In A Brochure

  In the UK, there is a plan to service Heathrow Airport with another rail link and one of the contenders is the London Air Rail Transit System or “LarTs”. The Buckley family are heavily involved with LarTs and includes: Captain Peter Buckley – Airline Pilot Hugh Buckley – P Eng, MPTIC – Vancouver SkyTrain […]

Mayoralty Candidate, Doug McCallum Wants To Delay Rapid Transit In Surrey Until The Late 2030’s

Why do politicians always think they are transit geniuses? Mostly because they are too stupid to understand the basics of transit planning and the application of modern public transit philosophy. Doug McCallum is one, a former Surrey Mayor who was and still is completely out of touch with regional transit planning, now claims if elected, […]