TramTrain – Gaining Momentum

Most people do not know what a TramTrain is.

The concept is simple and in earlier times it was called the “interurban”.

TramTrain is a modern streetcar or tram, so configured that it can operate on the railway mainline, thus very affordably servicing distant destinations, otherwise far too expensive for an independent tram/LRT line.

First conceived in Karlsruhe Germany, the first TramTrain Line, from Karlsruhe to Bretten was wildly successful, with ridership going from 533,600 per week to 2,554,976 per week; a staggering 479% in ridership in just seven months!

Today, there is now over fifty TramTrain operations around the world with many more in various stages of planning.

Also, many manufacturers offer TramTrain vehicles, unlike the trains used on Vancouver’s Expo and Millennium Lines, where there is only one supplier.

Stadler’s City Link TramTrain, is just one of many TramTrain vehicles on the market and is an articulated rail-car, which can have up to four sections, has a maximum capacity of 250 persons and comes with a washroom section (needed for longer distance routes) if desired.

The train can be powered electrically, with a battery, or with diesel operation.

The Trains can be operated in multiple units, up to three trains in length.

The City Link TramTrain is operated in Austria, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Mexico, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.

For BC, TramTrain could economically solve several transportation issues, including Rail for the Valley’s Vancouver to Chilliwack project and the E&N railway debates.

Ral for the Valley would like to ask:

Is it not time to stop building with extremely expensive 1970’s light-metro and instead invest in a proven and economic 21st century solution? The Expo Line’s Langley extension is now costing more than $400 million a km, yet a TramTrain solution could see over 20 km of TramTrain built for the same cost. Put another way, the Expo Line extension to Langley is now said to cost $7 billion, yet for the same cost we could build over 350 km of TramTrain , which could fund both the restoration of the E&N into a viable regional railway and restore a regional; railway on the former BC Electric route to Chilliwack, carrying far more customers than what the Langley SkyTrain extension will carry.

Something to think about!