Karlsruhe – More fuel on the fire

A few weeks back, Zwei created a firestorm of denial by the anti-tram crowd, when I reported that the main tram route in the city was being replaced by a subway; “because of the success of Karlsruhe’sAi??regional tramtrain service, the main tram route through the city was seeing 45 second headways“. All Zwei did was […]

A recent spike: Canadaai??i??s abandoned railway lines given second life by search for cheaper transport

An interesting article from the National Post. Of course, Rail for the Valley has been advocating for this for the past four years! A recent spike: Canadaai??i??s abandoned railway lines given second life by search for cheaper transport Tristin Hopper Apr 27, 2012 One hundred and 26 years after Sir John A. Macdonald drove its […]

TransLink eliminates planning VP – The Sacrificial Lamb

It seems that transit planning is/was not aAi??TransLink forte, in fact the move to remove the VP of Planning certainly indicates that the Premier’s office is in full control of Metro Vancouver transportation planning and no encumbrances from the TransLink bureaucracy is needed.Ai??TransLink’s VP of planning has been determined to be the sacrificial lamb with […]

Where’s The Density? Oh, I Guess Density Is Not An Issue With TramTrain.

Ever wanted to see what the Rail for the Valley/Leewood tramtram ride would be like, well the following video from U-Tube gives the feel of what a Vancouver to Chilliwack servcie would be like. The following is a cab-eye view of a German regional railway, not unlike the former BC Electric line from Vancouver to […]

Montpellier opens new lines – A lesson unlearned for TransLink!

What is very interesting about this news item from the Light Rail Transit Associations web siteAi??( www.lrta.org ) is that the cost for Montpellier’s two new light rail/tram lines 3 & 4 (28.2 km) is about CAD $688.8 million or about $24.45 million/km. to build! The cost of Montpellier’s two new tram lines are less […]

TransLink postponing some expansion plans – Take that you bad old taxpayer!

As expected, TranLink’s brass is postponing transit projects to punish those nasty people who don’t want to be gouged by new taxes to keep TransLink’s bureaucrat’s pensions and bonuses well funded. That the Evergreen Line light-metro line (the main cause of TransLink’s financial problems) is allowed to continue, demonstrates an utter ignorance by TransLink and […]

The Canada Line is on the fritz again

Well it seems the $2.5 billion Canada Line gadgetbahnen is on the fritz again, so much for the myth that driverless transitAi??are more dependable than light rail. The problem is a signalling problem and the sort of problem that bedevils automatic metros around the world, it is also a problem that doesn’t greatly effect light […]

Bad run for TransLink as disasters pile up

More unhappy news for TransLink………. Bad run for TransLink as disasters pile up By Michael Smyth, The ProvinceApril 13, 2012 http://www.theprovince.com/story_print.html?id=6452292&sponsor= I doubt the folks at TransLink are worried about the ominous date on the calendar today. Metro Vancouver’s transit authority has had such a lousy run of late that Friday the 13th could hardly […]

AdiA?s Transit Improvements?

A hint of the shape of things to come. TransLink is imploding under its weight of inefficiencies and there is more to come; $30 million must be carved from the TransLink budget to cover the loss of the denied fare increases. Zwei has a few hints where these cuts could come from. Get rid of […]

Yes, TransLink does Need An Overhaul!

Common sense at last. Ever since Gordon Campbell and Kevin Falcon and had a hissy fit over the then TransLink Board (made up of local mayors) rejecting the Canada Line metro due to cost concerns, and gutted public oversight for the ponderous bureaucracy and insteadAi??creatingAi??the so called Board of Experts, TransLink has been, to be […]