From the Georgia Straight – Professor calls Port Mann Bridge a "white elephant"

The director of SFUA?ai??i??ai???s urban studies program, Anthony Perl, has claimed that a new Port Mann Bridge will become the A?ai??i??Ai??Mirabel AirportA?ai??i??A? of Metro Vancouver. In a phone interview with the Straight, Perl said the B.C. government is building the bridge for a future that wonA?ai??i??ai???t exist, just as Mirabel was built in the 1970s […]

Rail for the Valley TramTrain – Arhus aims to pioneer Danish tram-train: Denmark’s second-largest city is planning the country’s first tram-train project. – From bNet

Here is another example for Rail to the Valley of TramTrain beingAi??Ai??planned forAi??Ai??in Europe. The theme is all too familiar, designing a transit system to cater to the needs of the customer, using existing railway infrastructure to reduce cost, while at the same time increasing service. The theme of TransLink is simple, we are going […]

European cities introduce new tram-train technology – From the European Urban Knowledge Network

It seems that almost every country in Europe today, is investing in TramTrain and the reason is obvious, it’s much cheaper than building stand alone rapid transit lines. It is time TransLink to change course from very expensiveAi??Ai??heavy-rail metro construction to very much cheaper light rail and decrease their time line for SkyTrain to Langley […]

The many faces of tramtrain; how soon will the Fraser Valley see one?

It has been a long established transit maxim, long ignored by TransLink and BC Transit before, “use existing rail routes first“. Why? Because existing rail routes are much cheaper to build and install light rail, rather than going ‘greenfields’ construction.Ai??Ai?? Of course, SkyTrain and RAV are the epitome of ‘greenfields’ construction! The cost to build […]

NEWS FLASH – Province launches review of BC Ferries and TransLink – From News 1130

Of course the province and Transportation Minister, Shirley Bond will not look at the real reasons of Translink’s financial problems: building light-metro (RAV & SkyTrain) on routes that do not have the ridership to sustain them. It seems the newly announced combined GST/PST (now known as HST) and potential massive new TransLink taxes and auto […]

PortlandA?ai??i??ai???s Regional Planning Agency Highlights Two New Corridors for Light Rail – From the Transport Politic

Interesting news from Portland Oregon, where their light rail system keeps on growing at a steady pace, with taxpayer’s approving construction onAi??Ai??every new line. It must be remembered that Portland’s original light railAi??Ai??line cost one quarter of that to build than Vancouver’s SkyTrain and the regional taxpayer has never been allowed to vote on any […]

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 […]

Tram-train backed in the UK. Can we expect the same here?

Ai??Ai??WhatAi??Ai?? is important to note is that the very thorough and highly respectedAi??Ai??Her Majesty’s Railway Inspectorate is now investigating the safety and implementation of TramTrain in the UK; if it passes the HMRI it can be well assured that TramTrain will be safe for operation on the “interurban” line, on this side of the pond! […]

Cranleigh Railway Line: All stop Bramley Station!

Rail for the Valley is not alone in trying to reinstate little used, abandoned, disused or mothballed rail lines for passenger use. The following web site for the Cranleigh reopening project……. http://www.cranleighrailway.info/reopen.htm ……in the U.K. is well worth a visit.Ai??Ai??One useful idea whichAi??Ai??could be copied,Ai??Ai??is aAi??Ai??a ‘model’ Valley Interurban station, locatedAi??Ai??in Chilliwack, Abbotsford or Langley […]