Back On Track

Cities across Europe are building trams (streetcars) at a rate not seen in nearly a century. Places that had torn up their tram tracks in the 1950s have realized they had made a mistake. Twenty-one French cities have built a tramway system this century. Sixty German cities now have trams. Further afield, China has built […]

Are You A Transit Expert? 15 Questions.

Here are ten questions to test the knowledge of political candidates about LRT & public transit for this coming provincial election. Passing grade is 70%. Answers: 1) LRT is a transit mode, generally electrically powered, able to operate in mixed traffic, that can economically carry between 2,000 and 20,000 persons per hour per direction. (Light […]

Video – My Favourite Public Transport Video

The following is my favourite public transport video and includes all aspects of rail to move people, including TramTrain, Intercity trains, local trains, and even a steam excursion.

What Is The Real Cost For The Expo & Millennium Line Extensions? A Repost From 2022.

The following post is from a September 14, 2022 and I am re-posting because Zwei was wrong about the cost of the 16 km Expo Line extension to Langley. Evidently, my cost estimates were out by $1.5 to $2.5 billion as the provincial government recently announced that the cost of the 16 km extension to […]

OMC #5 – Who Made $8 Million?

An interesting passage from Bob Mackin’s Breaker News has peaked my interest concerning the the Operations and Maintenance Centre #5. “A Dec. 11, 2023 NDP cabinet order, signed by Surrey-Green Timbers MLA Rachna Singh, took a nearly 37-acre parcel of land at 176th and the Fraser Highway out of the Agriculture Land Reserve on which […]

The NDP Just Love FastFerry Projects!

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” George Santayana, an early 20th century writer and philosopher. Well, the NDP certainly do not remember their past because the $6 billion, 16 km Expo Line extension to Langley is turning into another “FastFerry” fiasco! Well done, Premier Eby, well done! The fast ferry […]

The Hydrogen Train Debate – The Expensive Quebec Connection

The great panacea to solve all our problems or currently a Popular Science “pipe-dream”? Well is is now worse than that as it seems the push for hydrogen powered trains has more to do with huge Liberal government subsidies to Bombardier Inc. and now Alstom, to keep jobs in Quebec. The old Canadian story; transit […]

The North Shore’s “Hobson’s Choice”

From: Rail for the Valley For the past 17 years, Rail for the Valley has advocated for the “return of the interurban” on the former Vancouver to Chilliwack BC Electric interurban line that still connects Vancouver to Chilliwack, via Surrey/Cloverdale; Langley; Abbotsford and Vedder/Sardis. Rail for the Valley, due to the soundness of the plan, […]

Pipe Dreams

Transit studies are a “dime a dozen” in metro Vancouver, yet few are ever used for the simple fact that rapid transit is built for strictly politcal reasons and not for the needs of the transit customer. Kennith Chan and the Hive is pro SkyTrain, yet he know very little about the local transit system, […]

Should We Convert The Canada Line to Light Rail?

Updated for 2024  With Covid-19, this becomes more important than ever. Right now we have a Hobson’s choice for regional rail transit, extend the Millennium and Expo Lines and continue using the proprietary Movia Automatic Light Metro or nothing. This must change and change soon, or the hugely expensive SkyTrain light metro system will become […]