Light Rail & Tramways Growth Continues With new Openings in 2010

From May’s issue ofAi??Ai??Tramway’s & Urban Transit comes a list of new LRT openings in 2010, almost one every six weeks. The following is a partial list of new LRT/tram and TramTrain systems. It is interesting to note the increase of TramTrain expansion, both in Europe and in North America. Also, when compared to metro […]

The Broadway Follies – TransLink does the Gong Show

Here we go again, TransLink’s famous planning exercises that in the end will please no one and achieve very little. There is no bold ‘grand plan’ but more of the same, a little BRT here; a little SkyTrain there, with a hint of LRT thrown in to keep the trolley-jolly types happy. With all the […]

Parry People Movers For Granville Island?

Ai??Ai??Granville Island was once a large industrial site, serviced with rail and when Granville Island was commercialized in the 1970’s the tracks were left in situ, with a promise of a (at the time) funky horse drawn tram. The tram service did not materialize, but the tracks and switches remain. With very little capital outlay, […]

Clean, affordable light rail also delivers economic lift

Shades of the Broadway LRT/metro debate. It seems the metro lobby is hard at it to derail Toronto’s LRT plans, just like how the metro/SkyTrain lobby is trying to do the same in Vancouver. Ai??Ai?? Added to the metro/SkyTrainAi??Ai??debate is that our friends South of the boarder are trying reinvent light rail into light-metro, a […]

The Livable Blog Talks Broadway Transit

The Livable Blog has an interesting discussion about “rail” transit on Broadway. http://www.livableregion.ca/blog/blogs/index.php?blog=5&title=broadway_rapid_transit_alternatives_lack&page=1&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1&disp=single#c2151

Some Sunday Reading – The "Automatic Metro" or AGT Debate – Too Much Bunkum By The AGT Lobby

In various other transit oriented blogs, the myth that automatic operation of trains saves operating costs is perpetuated ad nauseum. Those who try to set the record straight are subjected to a sort of ‘Spanish Inquisition’ and are treated as latter day heretics. What is so Monty Pythonish about this is that back in the […]

Integrated transit solutions needed – A Letter in the Chilliwack Progress

The following is another letter published in the Chilliwack progress supporting a ‘rail’ connection from Chilliwack to Vancouver. Integrated transit solutions needed Published: April 13, 2010 12:00 PM As a student I am concerned about how politicians are not looking towards our future. There is no alternative to getting in and out of cities such […]

From Seattle – A light-rail tunnel is best solution for Bellevue and region – NOT!

I see that the city of Bellevue,Ai??Ai??located directly East ofAi??Ai??Seattle across Lake Washington, wants to put the proposed LRT in a tunnel under the city. ThisAi??Ai??extremely expensiveAi??Ai??bit of transit planning reflects the power of the auto lobby to push public transit underground, thus greatly increasing costs, while at the same time deterring ridership. This blinkered […]

UBC SkyTrain Subway Gaining Steam – Is it An Unstoppable Train?

One year ago, with Cambie Street merchant’s Susan Heyes lawsuit against TransLink fresh in many peoples minds, any thought of a SkyTrain subway under Broadway was quietly ignored. Now, with TransLink teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, Vancouver’s political bloggists and mainstream media are gung-ho promoting a SkyTrain subwayAi??Ai??under Broadway to UBC. The tired old […]

For the Tram Enthusiast – The Finnish Tramway Society

One of the more avid readers of “Rail for the Valley” blog is from Finland and here is the link to their most excellent Finnish Tramway Society website. http://raitio.org/english/index.htm Also this page of tram photos is well worth a look as it shows trams operating in very snowy conditions, the type of weather when SkyTrain […]