Why TransLink Can’t Be Honest

Why can’t TransLink be honest with its customers and the taxpayer? Like B.C. Transit before, honesty is not in TransLink’s lexicon, why and why can’t TransLink be honest about SkyTrain? The answer lies with he fact each SkyTrain Line has been a political decision, with the final decision made by the Premier of the day. […]

The Return Of The Branch Line – Can You Say E&N, RftV?

Most railway enthusiasts in the UK treat Beeching as a leper. In fact, Beeching predicted the end of local railways altogether, leaving the UK with just three or four trunk lines, connecting major cities by the 21st century. This is not to argue that rationalization should not have taken place, but to tear up the […]

Light Rail for Dummies

Quote: “……..scrapping bike lanes to make way for diverted car traffic defeats the purpose of LRT“ Exactly! To reduce congestion, one must reduce road space, but provide an attractive and affordable transit alternative. LRT has proven to be that attractive and affordable alternative, something that TransLink and the Metro mayors have yet to learn. LRT […]

Tram Trains for Hungary!

TramTrain, one of the fasted growing transit sectors in the world and why not; extending public transit cheaply by using existing infrastructure is a win, win situation. The cost ofAi?? of a 25.3 km of route including 3.3 km of new single track line is CAD $62 million! The cost of the eight Electro-diesel trains […]

More Pre Election Transit News – Monty Python Plans For Transit

Unlike the mainstream media, the Georgia Straight always has better reporting on the local transit scene. This is nothing more than a staged media event featuring two growingly unpopular Mayors, Hepner and Roberts and the ever unpopular TransLink. With a May election looming the Liberals need to show that they are doing something, while the […]

Today all Dutch trains are powered 100% by wind energy

  Something to think about. Question: Can we use wind generated power to sell the Leewood RftV TramTrain scheme? Today all Dutch trains are powered 100% by wind energy In the Netherlands all NS’s 1.200.000 train trips per day are now without any CO2 emissions. A world’s first! By Michiel de Gooijer As from 1 […]

Memo to Metro Mayors: Forget Road Pricing, build With LRT!

As Vancouver’s metro mayor’s dig themselves further into a financial morass, with the proposed now $3.2 billion Broadway subway to Arbutus and the now over $100/km Surrey LRT, which will demand more and more punitive regional taxation, why instead don’t we plan for affordable European style LRT? The trouble is, our regional mayors think they […]

Game Changer for Regional Rail!

What the FRA does, Transport Canada will soon follow. This news is of great importance to Metro and Victoria’s metro regions, bringing in a transit option that Rail for the Valley has been championing for many years. Proven European technology combined with proven European transit philosophy (which will come with the technology), just may make […]

Phase One To Oblivion

Well, it had to happen, the fools council has approved ‘phase one’ of Translink’s ten year plan. I doubt that any of the mayors in this old boys/girls club know very much about transit, but they certainly know what gets them votes and transit is a motherhood and apple pie issue. Buying new SkyTrain cars […]

The 1986 LRTA Study: Bus – LRT – Metro Comparison

Every year I reprint this post to remind everyone of the ability to move large amount of people at an affordable cost. There is an ongoing debate today that LRT can only carry a limited number of riders and that the magic number for a subway is about 100,000 riders a day on a transit […]