Worldwide Tram Market Review – 2014

The Cardinal posts hereAi??the schedule ofAi??Worldwide Tram orders as of March 2014, courtesy of Tramways & Urban Transit Manufacturer City’s Orders Options Sub-Total Orders Pending OrdersAi?? Options Alstom Aubagne, Avignon, Bordeaux, Constantine, Cuenca, Dubai, Montpellier, Nottingham, Ottawa, Oran, Paris, Rio, SAi??tif, Sidi Bel AbbA?s, SNCF, Toulouse 374 214 AnsaldoBreda Genova, Firenza, Kayseri, Zhuhai 70 7 […]

Canadaai??i??s light rail renaissance

From the International Railway Journal http://www.railjournal.com/index.php/light-rail/canadas-light-rail-renaissance.html Light rail is experiencing a renaissance in cities throughout Canada with various new lines planned and some currently under construction. LIKE most cities across the world, Canada’s leading urban centres suffer from traffic congestion leaving many residents wasting time in their cars. In recent years light rail schemes have […]

Streetcars belong: Even in the U.S.

They’re coming. They’re actually now being built, not just planned, not just proposed. Streetcar lines are back. From Railway Age; http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/blogs/doug-bowen/streetcars-belong-part-2-even-in-the-us.htmlAi?? Streetcars are still under the radar for most railroad folks, perhaps understandably, given the fledgling nature of the mode in the U.S. The lines established and under construction, are small in scope and distance. […]

Broadway needs SkyTrain rather than light rail, Vancouver city staff & Translink trot out the same old, same old.

Broadway needs SkyTrain rather than light rail, Vancouver city staff say http://www.straight.com/article-843831/vancouver/broadway-needs-skytrain-rather-light-rail-vancouver-city-staff-say By Yolande Cole, November 27, 2012 Vancouver city staff believe a subway SkyTrain line to UBC is the best way to meet the growing demand along the Broadway corridor, outweighing the option of a light-rail system that they say would not accommodate the […]

Why Is TransLink’s Price for Light Rail Triple What Other Cities Pay?

Arguments for spending billions on SkyTrain along Broadway rest on oddly high estimates for the alternative: light rail. ByAi??Kathryn Mandell and Patrick M. Condon, Today, TheTyee.ca http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2012/11/28/TransLink-Light-Rail/ Future interrupted? Why is Vancouver light rail assumed to be three times more expensive than elsewhere? Image source: Steer Davies Gleave.Ai??Ai??Ai?? An extremely expensive decision for taxpayers looms […]

Trams are good for your health – 3

postedAi??from: The Regional Transport Strategy role of Tramways & Light Rail http://www.applrguk.co.uk/files/lruk%20v.1%20role%20of%20light%20rail%20&%20tramways%20v.%20150610.pdf Health Impact of Airborne Pollutants Evidence has now emerged which confirms that the long-term effects of particle air pollution are considerably more significant in damaging Public Health than heart disease. The Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants Report published May 2001, […]

Vancouver considers higher-density housing plans for Cambie Street corridor – Have we given land developers a $2.5 billion subsidy?

From the ‘Well I told you so department’. In Vancouver, expensive subways are built not to move people, but toAi??subsidize land development. Readers of the Rail for the Valley blog know that this announcement was predicted and why there much hype and hoopla in the mainstream media with the recently opened Canada line metro; the […]

The Sunday Supplement Essay

The fall out from Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts State of the City report Tuesday, has raged far & wide in the BC papers and on the blogosphere, not unexpectedly much of the debate has centered on the link between transport or transit, development or land use and city planning, residential unit design or population density. […]

Light Rail news from around Europe

HK order low-floor trams from Transtech Rail.co April 1 2011 http://www.rail.co/2011/04/01/hkl-orders-low-floor-trams-from-transtech/ Helsinki City Transport (HKL) and the Finnish Rail rolling stock manufacturer Transtech signed an agreement to purchase 40 new trams on 24 March. The contract comprises of 40 trams and a possible further 90, if the tram extensions of Helsinki go to plan. The […]

Pushing a wooden stake through the heart of darkness

 I raised my head. The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds, and the tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed somber under an overcast sky–seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness." – Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness    It has not been a very good […]