Quebec city Tram Will Be A Reality

It will be interesting in Quebec, comparing Montreal’s  REM light-metro to Quebec city’s European style tram. Quebec City Tramway details The Quebec City $4 billion tramway project will involve the construction of tunnel sections and 36 stations, five of which will be underground. The proposal includes incorporating an integrated system of tramways, electric tram bus […]

Will The Tesla Trump Transit?

Good old Zwei is getting on and he does not observe the transit system as he once did, but with Covid in mind and “huff and puff” coming from regional mayors about transit, good old Zwei will make an observation; “The Tesla and the current tranche of electric cars now roaming metro Vancouver’s streets and […]

A New Low For Reporting In The BC Media

Zwei gets a lot of Emails and this caught my attention. Slow-pitched questions and the continued referring that the tunnel is a mistake, the entire show seemed like an infomercial for the BC Liberals. Why all the angst for the tunnel and why do the Liberals still want a bridge? The answer probably is that […]

Too Expensive – AirTrain (SkyTrain) Is Scrapped

What is now called Movia Automatic Light Metro is known as Airtrain in New York. AirTrain JFK, is a 13 km elevated, ART system built by Bombardier serving John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK Airport) in New York City. The system consists of three lines and ten stations within the New York City borough of […]

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. […]

OK…….Is It Now Time for TramTrain?

What is TramTrain? A TramTrain is a type of light rail vehicle that meets the standards of a light rail system (usually an urban street running tramway), but which also meets national mainline standards permitting operation alongside mainline trains. Straight forward isn’t it, or is it? Then, was the interurban an early form of TramTrain? […]

A Slow Train to The Future

Something that is badly needed in BC and Canada, regional railways. Local pundits have called for faster and faster rail transit, with some even advocating for high speed rail (HST) for the Fraser Valley as the only way to get people out of their cars. Today, with gas topping $2.00 a litre is another way […]

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 […]

A Comparrison Of Operating Costs – Revisited

If one took the ‘Way-back’ machine to the late 1980’s, the argument that SkyTrain was cheaper to operate than LRT would show the massive propaganda campaign to give the public a positive view of the proprietary ALRT light-metro. This is because it was forced upon the region by the Social Credit government of the day. […]