Mayor of Moscow commits to tram investment – Why Not Vancouver?
The Mayor of Moscow, Russia, with a population 11,500.000 is committing investment for the renewal of the city’s extensive tramway network. Until a few years ago, Moscow’s trams were under threat of abandonment, but not to day.
Even with the world’s largest cities, trams, streetcars and LRT have proven their ability to affordably move large numbers people with the minimum of investment. Something that a certain vocal NDP surrogate and Vancouver councillor, Geoff Meggs, should consider before misinforming the public about the virtues of a SkyTrain subway under Broadway. Even though Megg’s is echoing the City of Vancouver’s long stated policy of demanding subways (especially if regional taxpayers foot the bill) for urbanAi??’rail’ transit because subways make the city “world-class“.
Megg’s and the C of V’s embarrassing anti-LRT mumbo-jumbo is doing public transit and the regional taxpayer a great disservice.
Mayor of Moscow commits to tram investment
30 November 2012
RUSSIA: Mayor Sergei Sobyanin confirmed his commitment to the future of Moscow’s 416 km tram network during a visit to a section of modernised track on Krasnoprudnaya Ulitsa on November 26.
‘We are not going to stop the tram traffic in the city’, the Mayor said. ‘On the contrary, we intend to work to make the Moscow tram service more convenient and comfortable for the passengers, as well as speedier.’
Daily ridership is currently around 600 000, and this is expected to increase by 20% once a three-year upgrading programme is completed.
A total of 57 km of the 1 524 mm gauge tramway is to be modernised this year, followed by 71 km in 2013 and 55 km in 2014. Bids have been invited for a contract to supply a potential 300 modern low-floor trams in 2014-15, and the winner is scheduled to be announced after December 15. Tram tracks are to be segregated from other traffic, and 1 min headways are planned. Work will also be undertaken to reduce noise.
Consideration is being given to the reinstatement of six former sections of tramway totalling 26 km.
Well, this was even easier than usual. I convinently looked at info on the Moscow Metro earlier today. It’s 12 lines carry from 6 million to 9 million trips per day, over 10 times as many people than their trams carry. And they are expanding the system. Yet another example of the need for and advantages of high capacity fast frequent safe grade separated transit. Thanks for bring Moscow up and further showing the value of a Broadway Subway.
Desperately clutching fairy dust from the air eh Richard or Rico?
You are a retard, there is so little comparison between Moscow & Vancouver.
Moscow:
Population 11.5m
Area 2,500 km2
Climate average winter temperature -9.5 deg C
Density 4,582/km2
Moscow Metro:
first opened 77 years ago
12 lines
186 stations
Total length 308 km
Daily ridership 6.5m
Don’t quote comparisons unless you are very certain about what you are talking about
Zweisystem replies: Richard, we were not talking about Moscow’s subways you silly twit, we were talking about their Tramways or streetcars. Broadway just does not have the ridership to justify a subway, if you build a subway, it will be highly subsidized, just like the three other mion-metro systems. What you show is a good case of metro madness, where you nay say anything about light rail, just because you want to. Objectively Richard, if a Broadway subway is built, kiss good bye to TransLink and the transit agency will split, leaving muni’s North of the river to fund the subway. but them, SkyTrain fanatics have never clearly understood modern transit practice.
I find that those in Vancouver advocating for SkyTrain and/or a subway just do not live in the real world of transit or finance. One just doesn’t simply build a subway because it is modern or because everyone else is doing it, building a subway is a very serious business requiring much money and study. This costs a lot of money and this is before any real construction is done.
The question one must ask before nay subway is built is; “Is it necessary?” “Is there the ridership to justify the investment for a subway?”
I find in North America, subways are built without any real consideration because politicians want one.
This reminds me of Victorian England, where railway directors of minor ordered expensive tunnels to be built because they felt that their railway would not be considered a real railway without a tunnel! The result of course was financial distress for the railway company.
The SkyTrain system as with most light metros were designed to be elevated to mitigate the high cost of subway construction, as subways have proved to be ruinously expensive for the agency operating the transit system. Today in Germany, many transit authorities are ruing the day that previous administrations made the decisions to go underground in the 60’s and 70’s and today are costing silly money to maintain in the 21st century. Putting a light metro in a subway is just plain silly, as it would be far better to put a LRT system in a subway and still have the ability to operate on the surface elsewhere.
I would also like to remind Richard that the bulk of the Moscow subway system was built by mostly slave labour and in today’s finical climate, they just can’t afford to build much more and is the reason why they are refurbishing their tramway system. Something that is akin to the problems in Vancouver.
I find those advocating for subways do not know, or wish not to know of the expenses required or the ridership needed to operate and maintain them, but then what I see in Vancouver is a sort of perverse colonial envy, where “if they have it, we must have it too.”
I do feel sorry for the transit customers and the taxpayers n Vancouver as they are being taken for a very long expensive ride.
I.K. Brunel, can you show me definitive proof that Moscow’s Metro was built with slave labor? I’ve read anecdotes of it, but haven’t found anything definitive.
If true, then it shares a notoriety with the U.S. Capitol.