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? […]

Is gridlock the real Expo 86 legacy for Metro Vancouver?

Charlie Smith of the Georgia Straight is the one reporter who has studied the transit issue and knows the issues. Despite the hype and hoopla, especially from provincial politicians (both Liberal, Socred & NDP) the SkyTrain Lobby, the many issues surrounding SkyTrain have been glossed over by the mainstream media. This is still evident today […]

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   […]

Traffic Congestion Declines

Interesting tidbit from the news which has been overshadowed by the tragedy in Brussels. Traffic congestion is down in Metro Vancouver and this begs the question: “If there is less traffic on the roads, then should we not waste money to plan and build $3 billion SkyTrain subway under Broadway and a $3.5 billion bridge […]

The Federal Budget – LRT Mentioned, But Not A Subway

The Federal budget did not hold any transit surprises, with $370 million to be spent over five years for transit project support. Well, $370 million will buy you about one kilometre of a Broadway subway or put another way, 200 metres a year spread over five years, big deal! We could build 2 km of […]

Of Trains, Station Platforms, and Capacity

Zwie has got wind of a local transit advocate getting a nasty phone call a few evenings back from a chap incensed over a blog post on Facebook that went like this: The Canada line has station platforms 40m to 50 m long and operates 41 m long coupled sets of EMU’s, has about one […]

Must see videos

This is one of Zwei’s favourite tram photos. Lawned rights-of-way; simple stations; and pedestrian friendly light rail in Grenoble. Reprinted and re edited from 2009. The two videos from Karlsruhe are a must see, to fully understand TramTrain! All the links work, unfortunately the few that no longer exist, have been deleted. Trams climbing grades […]

Is It Time To Get Back To Basics?

Perusing many transit oriented blogs, there seems to be a common thread appearing, we are changing our travel and commuting habits. This poses a very important question; “Is it time to get back to basics with transit planning?” This is a valid question because as driving and commuting habits change, expensive transit infrastructure just may […]