Perils of a Proprietary Railway – The End of SkyTrain

Zwei has often warned of the perils of a proprietary railway. Our friend Mr. Cow has warned of the perils of a proprietary railway. And now, Bombardier’s current fiasco supplying 21st century trams of a proven European model, may be the final straw in the collapse of Bombardier’s rail division. If and when the production […]

Scarborough Subway Sticker Shock

More info on the Scarborough controversy. First, modern LRT can carry more than 15,000 pphpd, in fact modern LRT can carry well over 20,000 pphpd. In Karlsruhe Germany, one tram line carried over 35,000 pphpd in the peak hour! Toronto’s old Bloor Danforth streetcar line, using coupled sets of PCC cars were known to move […]

Pssst…..Some One Please Tell TransLink Subways Get Dirty

Zwei was not kidding about the issue of cleaning subway lines. Due to the nature of train action in a subway, the piston like force of air that is in front of every train as it traverses the tunnel, creates a sandblasting effect on the electrics and signalling. Then, the oily dirt and debris coming […]

Scarborough ……… Or Should We Say Broadway Subway ai???Not A Worthwhile Use Of Moneyai??i??

No real surprise here. What is very odious is that the Mayor of Toronto wants a subway, purely for political purposes and the taxpayer be damned! The same is true about the proposed Broadway SkyTrain subway, where the traffic flows just do not warrant a now almost $4 billion subway, yet the Mayor of Vancouver […]

Et Tu Meggs!

  Et tu Brute is a Latin phrase meaning “and you, Brutus?“, “even you, Brutus?” or “you too, Brutus?“, purportedly the last words of the Roman dictator Julius Caesar to his friend Marcus Brutus at the moment of his assassination. The quotation is widely used to signify the utmost unexpected betrayal by a person, such […]

Is TransLink Hiding Subway Costs?

I wanted to post this item, not to show problems with London’s proposed BRT, rather that cost of tunneling had been vastly under estimated on the subway portion of this project. An excerpt from the London Free Press. City hallai??i??s consultant, IBI Group, had dropped a bombshell on city officials that day: The tunnelai??i??s construction […]

The Pre Election BS Begins!

Let’s see now……election in May; a provincial Premier who doesn’t give a damn about regional transit; political donors getting restless for payback; yes the BC Liberal BS machine is in full swing. A $100 million/km LRT that goes nowhere and a $3.2 billion subway that goes nowhere, yes the BC Liberals are hard at it. […]

The Costly White Elephant In The Room

While Vancouver mayor Pines for a SkyTrain subway under Broadway and Trudeau the Younger smiles at the cameras with promises of transit manna from heaven, no one is addressing the real subway issue: costs! It is now estimated that the Millennium Line subway extension to Arbutus will now cost $3 billion or slightly higher, if […]

Subways Age Badly

Old Zwei has touched this subject many times; Subways age badly and they cost a lot to keep in good condition. Renewal costs are not generally factored in with budget calculations and tend to be a nasty surprise for politicians who were not around when the subway first opened. Yet, despite this, subways are the […]

Evergreen Line Cost Overruns & Broadway Subway Censorship – Business As Usual At TransLink

Hats off to Bob Mackin, for his continued journalistic investigation of TransLink and SkyTrain. The cost overruns on the Evergreen Line were expected as TransLink’s Business Case for ART for the Evergreen Line was as phony asAi?? the proverbial $3.00 bill. Also, it is no surprise that TransLink is censoring its Broadway subway and Surrey […]