The aging SkyTrain – Pitfalls of a gadgetbahnen

The major problem with automatic railways, is that they age poorly or should one say, the signaling and miles and miles of wiring needed for automatic operation, age poorly.Ai??Ai??A transit system that is well maintained, with lots of expensive preventative maintenance, preforms well as it ages, but if little or no preventive maintenance is done, […]

Rail reality grows with Hydro’s revelation – The Vancouver Province.

Ai??Ai??From the Vancouver Province and thanks for Brian Lewis for following this story! Advocates for establishing a light-rail passenger service in the Fraser Valley have found an ally in B.C. Hydro. And, not surprisingly, they’ve also found an opponent in mighty Canadian Pacific Ltd., the railway-based corporation that many have loved to hate throughout its […]

How green is my rapid transit?

By popular demand, another posting on ‘green’ or grassed light rail rights-of-ways. Grassed light rail lines bring a ‘cooling’ green park-like atmosphere to city tram lines. Lawned rights-of-ways are also used on heavier (fast) light-rail lines on suburban routes. Even in dense city centres, a lawned tram line is ascetically appealing. The appealing nature of […]

If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.A?ai??i??A?

The title quote by Joseph Goebbels, famed Nazi propagandist, aptly describes the SkyTrain lobby’s and BC Transit/TransLink’s thirty year long propaganda campaign to sell SkyTrain and discredit modern light rail. The many pro-SkyTrain blog sites that offer little in fact, but much unfounded rhetoric. All the bumf spewed hides one singular fact; that SkyTrain has […]

From the Light Rail Transit Association – Toronto tram contract finalized

Good news from Toronto! Toronto tram contract finalised : Bombardier Transportation has announced that it has signed a contract with the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) for the supply of 204 100% low-floor streetcars to replace the City of TorontoA?ai??i??ai???s aging fleet of vehicles which it is believed to be the largest single order for light […]

The little railway that could – From the Globe and Mail

Food for though; has anyone ever thought of buying the old interurban railway? Would the current owner consider selling? Patrick White Darlingford, Man. A?ai??i??ai??? From Wednesday’s Globe and Mail Last updated on Wednesday, Jul. 01, 2009 02:56AM EDT The jangle of crossing bells never sounded so sweet. They echoed across the town green in Darlingford, […]

Tech stuff for the Valley Inturban A?ai??i??ai??? The Indusi Signaling System A?ai??i??ai??? how it works (Part 4)

Speed Supervision (GeschwindigkeitsA?A?berwachung) The Indusi can also be employed to enforce speed restrictions, although it was not originally designed for this matter. The principle of operation is this: A device detects the approach of the train and activates a track magnet (say, a 2000Ai??Ai??Hz magnet). A timer is set, and after a fixed time the […]

A 2007 Presentation on Valley Rail – by the Light Rail Committee

First, before any discussion about rail transit, including Light Rail Transit, we must define LRT and other transit modes. The following is a brief descriptions of various transit modes advocated as solutions for transit in the region. Commuter rail: Locomotive hauled rail coaches or diesel or electric multiple unit trains, catering specifically to peak hour […]

What is the Cost of Building a Subway Line? Are Vancouver’s subway plans realistic?

Ai??Ai?? I found this item on the excellent ‘ The Toronto LRT Information Page’ http://lrt.daxack.ca/Ai??Ai?? What is the Cost of Building a Subway Line? Underground: $200 million to $250 million per kilometre At grade: $150 million to $200 million per kilometre …plus the cost of vehicles. Since Toronto has recent examples of constructed and proposed […]

Portland, Oregon: New streetcar line finally gets federal funding

Light Rail Now! NewsLog 17 June 2009 Portland, Oregon: New streetcar line finally gets federal funding Portland, Oregon: Ai??Ai??After years of federal stalling by the previous Bush administration, Portland’s new streetcar line has finally received a go- ahead to proceed … from the Obama administration. On 30 April 2009, US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced […]