The 1945 FRA Standards – Are they Obsolete?
The FRA standards for rail cars in the USA also sets the standards for railcars in Canada and a change in crash worthiness of new cars is big news as it would make the realization of TramTrain much easier. Is it not time to build ‘rail’ transit vehicles for the 21st century and not for […]
First CA?diz tram-train arrives – While the Fraser Valley waits for a train that never comes!
As Fraser Valley mayors twiddle their thumbs and do nothing but invent excuse after excuse for not wanting a passenger rail service in the Fraser Valley, new TramTrain operations continue to expand elsewhere. Our regional mayors are lost in a time capsule, wanting what will not work and ignoring what will. The transit customer, as […]
PyrAi??nAi??es Line Reopens – How About The Same Quality of Servcie to Chilliwack?
Interesting news from France. The cost to reopen this 25 km line, which was derelict for thirty-six years, was ai??i??102 million or CAD $146.5 million or put another way the cost to do the same with the former Vancouver to Chilliwack interurban line, which is still functioning for S.R.R. of B.C. freight traffic would be […]
The Fraser Valley Heritage Railway
The Fraser Valley Heritage Railway is again in operation, which begs the question; “Who says that passenger rail cannot operate on the former interurban route?” The interurban operates on weekends and please go for a ride and support them.
TramTrain – TransLink Fears Success
A candid conversation with a former TransLink planner all most a year ago (I gather from an email he is happily motoring along in his motor home in New Mexico), may shed some light on TransLink’s current planning and fiscal ills. The problem seems to be TransLink’s planners and bureaucrats are afraid of success. Why? […]
Langley to Vancouver In 50 Minutes Via Rail for the Valley
The Capital MetroRail system in Austin Texas uses Stadler GTW diesel electric light rail cars. TransLink’s and the City of Surrey’s much ballyhooed LRT really doesn’t offer the transit customer very much, except a very inconvenient transfer to the Expo Line and a 39 minute ride (if their are no glitches) on a dinky and […]
FA?hrerstandsmitfahrt (Cab Ride) Karlsruhe – Freudenstadt (Tram-Train Murgtalbahn / Auschnitte)
For those who would like to dispel the notion that TramTrain is not viable in the Fraser Valley, this video should dispel the notion. Lots of single track operation on a sparsely populated route. TramTrain
A Letter To Media and Politicians
ai??i??This letter went out to all the usual suspects, MP’s, MLA’s, and Mayors and Council. There is a general naivete about Light Rail Transit or LRT in the media, due in part to TransLink’s and previously BC Transits thirty five year war on LRT, with their well advertised preference for light-metro. Today, except for […]
Rail for the Valley In The news
From the Chilliwack Times. Dream of light rail from Chilliwack to Surrey isn’t dead The idea of creating light rail on the old interurban line from Chilliwack to Surrey may have faded in recent years, but proponents still want to see it happen and Coun. Sam Waddington says it’s inevitable. ai??i??Ai??image credit: File […]
Light Rail, Streetcars & Light-Metro – A Primer.
First published in the RftV blog in 2011, it is still pertinent today. Updated and edited for March 2016. Due to many people posting, on various blogs, absolute rubbish about light rail, it is time again for a quick primer on streetcars, LRT and SkyTrain. Question: What is the difference between LRT and a […]
Recent Comments