The $400 million Per Killometre SkyTrain To Newton – Really?

Zwei has a simple question: Where is the funding? With the cost of the Expo Line extension to Langley, exceeding the last estimate of $3.95 billion; the Broadway subway completion to UBC now exceeding $5 billion; and of course that pesky $3 billion rehab to the Expo and millennium Lines that TransLink refuses to acknowledge […]

Where Metro Vancouver Went Wrong

Zwei has belonged to the Light Rail Transit Association since 1983 and I first learned about the LRTA while I lived in Nottingham England in 1974/75. I attended a free lecture in Nottingham about bringing trams back to the city, while I was waiting for my girlfriend who was attending night school at Nottingham University. […]

Rail For The Valley Knew

Well, Rail for the Valley has been sounding alarm bells on this issue for at least seven years, but we were mocked and then ignored by the powers that be.  From January 28,2022: The Mayor’s Council’s Delusions Of Grandeur in 2050 – Where Is The money? January 12, 2022: Troubles At TransLink? December 10, 2021: […]

Six operators award joint contract for up to 504 tram-trains

This is big news and certainly shows the European confidence in TramTrain. The cost per car is somewhat steep (CAD $9.85 million) but it includes 16 years (and up to 32 years) of maintenance. This means the operators would be saved the cost of a mid life rehab! Also this highlights the advantages of group […]

The Battery Hybrid Diesel

  The battery-diesel hybrid, seems a far better bet for regional railways than hydrogen fuel cell electric trains. With battery-electric trains, the trains can operate on diesel in the country and on electric in urban areas. Also important, battery-diesel hybrid  trains do not need expense of hydrogen fuel as the cost to make hydrogen is […]

Tram, Streetcar, LRT – Why The Confusion?

The big problem with light rail is that there are so many definitions that the public get confused. In Metro Vancouver, unscrupulous politicians, planners, and academics deliberately confuse light rail and what is called a streetcar. The article included is now seven years old or seven years and somewhat out of date, as what we […]

Time To Put Freight Back On The Rails!

A rolling motorway in Europe The recent fiasco with our regional highways, due to the “Great Deluge” has again spot lighted the massive amount of freight traffic that is carried on the public highway system. The trucking industry is highly subsidized by using the existing highways and the motor freight companies undercut the freight rates […]

FROM THE LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT ASSOCIATION – TRAMS ARE SYMBOLS OF CITIES

From the LRTA, the modern tram, workhorse of today’s public transit systems in over 600 cities around the world, yet noticeably missing in Metro Vancouver. Indeed, the modern tram is absent in soulless Vancouver and it is time to change this. Let’s put some soul into Vancouver; let’s plan for trams! For the Fraser Valley […]

The North Shore’s “Hobson’s Choice”.

The following was sent to all North Shore mayor and councils. PLEASE DELIVER TO MAYOR AND COUNCIL AND FIRST NATION COUNCILS   From: Rail for the Valley For the past 14 years, Rail for the Valley has advocated for the “return of the interurban” for the former Vancouver to Chilliwack BC Electric interurban line that […]

Letters

Letters From the Langley Advance Times Dear Editor, For over 12 years, Rail for the Valley has been advocating the reinstatement of the Vancouver to Chilliwack interurban service and in doing so, are being advised by professionals and engineers who have a sound knowledge of public transit systems and transportation modes. The following are pertinent […]