A Comparrison Of Operating Costs – Revisited

Posted by zweisystem on Sunday, February 20, 2022 The continued misinformation from the usual sources about SkyTrain being cheap to operate, must be again, refuted. When compared to light rail, SkyTrain has cost much more to operate ad maintain. According to TransLink from information in 2020, the operational costs of both the Expo line extension […]

TramTrain – Success Ignored

The birth of what we call TramTrain or a streetcar that can operate on the mainline railways, came about after much research and public consultation, to provide the the city of Karlsruhe and region with a ‘user-friendly’ public transit system. In the 1980’s cities with trams or streetcars were seeing a steady decline in patronage […]

De-spinning The Spin – The Broadway Subway

First published on July 8, 2022 under the title “The $1.47 Billion Solution”, recent comments about the Broadway subway need clarifying. The following quote sums up the capacity issue for the Millennium Line (Broadway subway). When the programme is fully implemented, the Expo Line will be able to accommodate 17,500 passengers per hour per direction, […]

Failure

Failure noun 1. lack of success: “an economic policy that is doomed to failure” 2. the neglect or omission of expected or required action: “their failure to comply with the basic rules” A rather intense phone call has prompted me to post this. The caller irately stated: “SkyTrain is not proprietary” and “Vancouver has the […]

Slander

The continued debate about the trains that operate on the Expo and Millennium Lines continues. The SkyTrain for Surrey folks have crossed the line on this issue and Rail for the Valley call for a retraction of their recent News Release or face possible legal action. The claim that Rail for the Valley and others […]

A MEMO TO PREMIER EBY

The Honourable David Eby, Premier of BC Dear Premier Eby, The ongoing rift between Canada and the USA will have generational effects and will never go back to normal, as President Trump has forever changed how people behave. Trump and MAGA is a prelude for great change in BC. The ongoing climate change with summer’s […]

Will The Broadway Subway Solve Transit Issues?

In Metro Vancouver, The SkyTrain light metro system has had an interesting issue, no noticeable modal shift from car to train. Yes, the light metro system carries a lot of customers but the vast majority have transferred from bus to light-metro. The bus system has been so designed to feed every bus customer onto the […]

SkyTrain Was So Successful No One Wanted One!

Interesting article in the Hive, which is basically the mouthpiece for TransLink. The problem with SkyTrain is that it was a politcal decision and now with almost 45 years of deliberate misinformation and pro SkyTrain propaganda, the local media, especially with lazier younger reporters and journalists just do not do any research and print what […]

Dutch Regional Railways – A Model For The E&N?

Single track stub terminal station at Leeuwarden. (Harlingen–Nieuweschans Railway) Scheemda Station. Please note, cyclists use bicycles to commute to the station to take the train! (Harlingen–Nieuweschans Railway) A single stub terminal station at Stavoren. (Leeuwarden–Stavoren Railway) Franeker Station. Simple platform station with minimal amenities. (Harlingen–Nieuweschans Railway)

Toronto’s Transit Failures – Or Not Listening To The Experts!

The problem in Canada, with “rail” transit, especially light rail (LRT) is that politcans get involved and when politicians get involved, costs rise dramatically. Unlike Europe, Canadian University’s do not offer degrees in Urban Transport and the vast majority of Engineers and Planners who work on transit projects have little knowledge of what “light rail” […]