TransLink Will Not Come Clean On Subway Costs

Nothing new here. The truth is very simple, subways are very expensive to build, as TransLink found out with the Canada Line. We have to remember that the cost of the Canada Line soared past the first estimated cost of $1.3 billion, to around $2.7 billion. The Gordon Campbell Liberal government then forced TransLink to […]

and Now…….Here is The Real Story

The reason the TransLink is making the change may prove rather interesting. The story starts with the old Broadway-Lougheed rapid transit project which was planned for light rail operating from Arbutus and Broadway to Lougheed Mall and the Tri-Cities. This is the transit line that the NDP (under the leadership of Glen Clark and Joy […]

Teething Troubles – TransLink Singing The Bombardier Blues

Bombardier’s rail division is a bit of an embarrassment with late deliveries of trams to Toronto and now something seems amiss with the new MK.3 cars, which are really MK.2 cars with fewer seats. But what caught Zwei’s attention was this little quote” Seven of the new Mark III cars have been budgeted at $91 […]

Metro Mayors Bite The Bullet

Metro Mayors, with visions of federal cash dancingAi?? in their heads approved a draft transit plan part of their so called ten year plan. Like all other transit ten year or twenty year plans that have come and gone, this one was drafted, probably on orders of the premier who is afraid of any negative […]

SkyTrain Embaresses Itself Again

Oops! Rush hour, the time that transit must work, but with SkyTrain it doesn’t matter as it craps out now all to regularly. Again, aging complicated automatic transit systems grow more unreliable, making transit less dependable, which in turn makes the car more desirable. Memo to CKNW: Tracking issues? Are they trying to hunt down […]

An Open Letter To The NDP & Leader John Horgan

To the Leader of the Official Opposition, John Horgan, Dear Sir; As the NDP have been extremely weak with urban and metro transportation policies in the past two elections, may I offer a suggestion that the NDP take another look at the Rail for the Valley TramTrain plan, providing a TramTrain service from Vancouver to […]

Three Minutes Into The Future!

More wise words from Mr. ‘Haveacow’ who is an extremely experienced transit planner working on Ottawa’s new regional light rail line. This was originally a post from the recent Calgary blog and contains a wealth of information that the powers that be don’t really want in the public realm. What this boils down to is […]

Over to You Mr. Cow – The Vancouver Sun’s Recent “Puff” SkyTrain Story

This comment from Mr. Cow deserves a post of its own as there is so much information here, it deserves a wider audience. As Mr. Cow is a Canadian Transit Engineer, his comments are well worth reading. When SkyTrain ‘crapped-out’ in the Summer of 2014 there were no drivers or attendants to oversee the evacuation […]

Montreal, Quebec – op-ed: death of Canadian light metro ??

An interesting read. Why would Quebec’s Caisse de dAi??pA?t et placement du QuAi??bec, invest in the obsolete SkyTrain? Could the real reason be to help Bombardier out of its aerospace financial embarrassment, by buying ART? At the current rate, the proposed 67 km Montreal ART light-metro system will cost well over $8 billion or more […]

Now do you beleive Zwei!

Zwei has stated over and over again, one modern tram and tram driver is as efficient as six to eight buses and six to eight bus drivers and for every tram or bus operated one needs a minimum of four people to drive, maintain and manage them. As wages account for 70% or more of […]