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 […]

Sounds of Silence

No surprise here, as Zwei has been sounding alarm bells over this upcoming fiasco for years Now TransLink has an American out of Seattle as the new CEO and this means the sky is the limit for spending on rail transit. Seattle’s LRT is LRT in name only as it is actually a light metro […]

Unlike Toronto, TransLink Can’t Cancel A SkyTrain Contract

Toronto is cancelling its contract with Bombardier, which would have provided light rail vehicles for Toronto’s planned LRT network and the TTC is also looking at dumping Bombardier as the supplier for their tram replacement program due to non delivery of new trams as per the contract schedule This is why Bombardier Inc. love proprietary […]

Trams for Kuala Lumpur? Evidently Light Metro Did Not Reduce Congestion!

Interesting news from Kuala Lumpur, transit experts urge that trams be used. Kuala Lumpur already has an elevated RT line; a ART (SkyTrain) Line and an monorail, now transit authorities urge trams! The key phrase; “…….the mode of transportation could also reduce vehicles on the road and simultaneously solve traffic congestion in Kuala Lumpur especially […]

A Tale of Two Cities – The Utsunomiya LRT Versus The Shambles in Surrey

This article should give a good indication of the cost of modern light rail being built today. The proposed Utsunomiya LRT, is of course narrow gaugeAi?? and will have somewhat narrower trams, with a reduced capacity than LRT built inAi?? Canada, but it is the cost of construction which is important. The 14.6 km., 19 […]

Subways – Red Flags in Ontario – Should The Same Be Happening Here?

It now seems Ontario’s big subway plans are costing more, a lot more to build than what was first proposed as exampled by the Toronto York Spadina Subway Extension, whose cost soared over from $1.5 billion to $3.2 billion! TransLink is blithely planning away for both a hugely expensive SkyTrain subway under Broadway and an […]

TransLink Will Not Come Clean On Subway Costs

Nothing new here. The truth is very simple, subways are very expensive to build, as TransLink found out with the Canada Line. We have to remember that the cost of the Canada Line soared past the first estimated cost of $1.3 billion, to around $2.7 billion. The Gordon Campbell Liberal government then forced TransLink to […]

What about the Patullo Bridge? Updated

In light of today’s news that the Pattullo Bridge not only will collapse in a seismic event, it may topple in a wind storm. Pattullo Bridge vulnerable during seismic or ai???high-windai??i?? events: Report Zwei believes the old child’s song should be updated to: Pattullo bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down Pattullo Bridge is […]