French Delights Part 3 – Grenoble

Ai??Ai?? Grenoble France, with a regional population ofAi??Ai??580,000 completed it’s first a modern tramwayAi??Ai??line in the 1987, after aAi??Ai??successful, but hard foughtAi??Ai??civicAi??Ai??referendum and has set the standardAi??Ai??for modern LRT not just in France, but for the EEC. The first tram (streetcar) line, Line A, currently 13 km with 29 stops, opened, followed by Line B […]

French Delights Part 2 – Paris Tramway T-3

Paris’s tram line T3 (tram Marechaux) opened on 16 December 2006, along a 7.9 kmAi??Ai??route from Pont du Garigliano (Bd Victor) to Porte d’Ivry. The new line runs along the southern boulevards, replacing many bus routes andAi??Ai??attaining an higher commercial speeds (about 20 km/h vs. the current bus value of 14.5 km/h). Some of the […]

French Delights – Paris’s Tramway line 1 & Line 2

In 1992 trams (LRT)Ai??Ai??returned toAi??Ai??Paris, afterAi??Ai??their abandonmentAi??Ai??in 1938. The new tramAi??Ai??line,Ai??Ai??Line T1Ai??Ai?? ran fromAi??Ai??La Courneuve to Bobigny and was extendedAi??Ai??few months later to Gare St. Denis. So successful was line T-1, that it tripled theAi??Ai??ridershipAi??Ai??of the bus route it replaced. In 1997, after the success of the new tramway, Line T2 opened, running fromAi??Ai??Issy Val […]

From the Georgia Straight – TransLink’s Broadway transit gambit condemned

It seems Vancouver’s politicians are not satisfied with one hugely expensive subway, they want a almost $4 billion subway under Broadway to UBC. Indeed, as Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan points out, Vancouver’s politicians are blinkered to the real costs involved with subway construction, especially when the provincial and region taxpayers anted up for the almost […]

From the Georgia Straight – Metro Vancouver board pushes for $450 million a year increase in TransLink funding

If one really wanted any more evidence that our regional politicians are completely outAi??Ai??of touchAi??Ai??on regional transit issues, this item from the Georgia Straight should putAi??Ai??that to rest. The financialAi??Ai??problems with TransLinkAi??Ai??are simple: 1) It operates light-metro (an obsolete transit mode) on routes that do not have the ridership to support it. Result – high […]

The propaganda campaign for the UBC subway has begun. Here comes the Campbell Line!

OnAi??Ai??September 8, theAi??Ai??first day of regular commuting, after the summer break,Ai??Ai??in the region, the Vancouver Sun had a “Canada Line” Live chat where a poll question pops up “Should SkyTrain continue to UBC” and not surprisingly 59% have voted, “Yes get on with it”. Here we have the the firstAi??Ai??push ofAi??Ai??a massiveAi??Ai??propaganda campaign to win […]

From the Georgia Straight – Patrick Condon highlights cost of Broadway transit

There is no doubt that TransLink, the province and the city of Vancouver are steamrollering ahead for a SkyTrain UBC subway. The $2.8 billion for the proposed 12 km. subway is rather conservative and the true cost would be nearer to $4 billion. Going back to the $2.8 billion figure – $2.8 billion would buy […]

Tramway Line 3 in Paris – Let’s have a look!

A post inAi??Ai??today’s blog about Portland’s new light rail line mentioned Paris’s newAi??Ai??Tramway Line 3, so let’s explore Tramway Ligne 3 in Paris. If TransLink ever showed the public true images of modern light rail, instead of their stock of dated and altered photos, there would be much more public support for modern light rail […]

From the Seattle Times – TriMet opens MAX Green Line in Oregon

Portland continues to expand its light rail network with the opening of the Green Line. The Green line is 13.35 km. long and cost CAD $619.45 million or CAD $46.4 million per km. The higher cost of Portland’s Green line can be attributed to the fact that the new light rail-line parallels Highway 205 and […]

From Radio 1130 – Cambie merchants still waiting for Canada Line business boom. Not coming? Yes, Zweisystem told you so!

Well the RAV/Canada line has been open for some time now and now one wonders where is all those subway passengers that were dying to shop on Cambie St., as promised by RAVCo. and InTransit BC? Didn’t come? Well don’t hold your breathe, they’re not. It has been found in other jurisdictions where cut-and-cover subway […]