The White Elephant Line

A white elephant is a possession which its owner cannot dispose of and whose cost, particularly that of maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness. To recap, the Canada Line is not a true P-3, rather a mock P-3, where SNC Lavalin/Bombardier, bid against, SNC Lavalin/ROTEM. Judge Pittfield who resided over the failed Susan […]

Professor Patrick Condon: Dear PM: Don’t Waste Billions on Bad Transit Projects

I see the good professor is taking the same track a Zwei, with my earlier letter to the PM. Expensive vanity projects like the Broadway subway drive up transit costs, yet provide negligible transit improvements. The only benefit a Broadway subway will bring is excessive profits to land speculators and developers, who are now assembling […]

One Tram Line Moving 250,000 Daily

On the radio last week I heard one of the SFU types go on and on about the Canada Line and how successful the mini-metro was. Really? Again, I have to remind everyone that the Canada Line has station platforms only 40m to 50m long and can operate 41m coupled sets of EMUs. The official […]

Broadways Subway – A Boondoggle In The Making

Subways are very expensive items and only built when there is no other alternative available. SkyTrain ICTS/ALRT/ART, was supposed to mitigate the high cost of subway construction, but it didn’t as it proved to almost as expensive as a heavy-rail metro to build, with the capacity of modern light-rail. The result: No one builds with […]

Broadway Subway Reality Check – Toronto’s 8.6 km Spadina Line Subway Now $3.2 Billion!

For those of you who have been pooh-poohing, Zwei’s cost estimate for the Broadway subway, the following news item from Toronto should send a not too subtle message that subways are very expensive to build and are only built when there is the massive traffic flows that demand long trains and large stations to accommodate […]

Sobering Thoughts

The future may not be as transit friendly as many would have wished. The preceding chart should send chills down TransLink’s collective spine. Metro Vancouver’s transit system is based on the “Spoke and hub” theory of transit practice where major “transit hubs” are connected by light-metro and fed by a network of bus routes (spokes). […]

Out of the Pan and Into the Fire Dept.

It seems TriMet, in Portland are playing the part of rubes by hiring former TransLink president and general manager of its subsidiary British Columbia Rapid Transit Company Ltd.,Doug Kelsey. I believe TriMet will soon have buyers remorse because under Kelsey’s leadership, Vancouver’s light-metro system suffered many shutdowns due to lack of maintenance and poor management. […]

Shake Your Head In Disbelief Deptment

A snow broom in Sapporo Japan clears snow from the line. Yet in Richmond a mere dusting of snow and a trace of freezing rain brought the Canada Line to a halt. Really? Now, freezing rain and ice storms can stop trams from running, when ice shrouded electrical overhead sags due to weight and is […]

Oops! Canada Line Problems

Compass Card problems and now the Canada Line goes ka-put, not a good start to 2016. Ai?? Monday morning issues on TransLinkai??i??s Canada Line Vancouver, BC, Canada / News Talk 980 CKNW | Vancouver’s News. Vancouver’s Talk Gord MacDonald TransLink is reporting a problem on the Canada Line between the Bridgeport and Templeton Stations. Due […]

A Bad Day For SkyTrain

Oops, a bad day for TransLink and the mini-metro system. Confusion reigns, as TransLink can’t even manage a coherent news story. Canada Line resumes after ai???fire incidentai??? causes delays Vancouver, BC, Canada / News Talk 980 CKNW | Vancouver’s News. Vancouver’s Talk Simon Little December 29, 2015 Good news for rush hour commuters ai??i?? TransLink […]