The wheezy SkyTrain – a real snow job!

Again, SkyTrain embarrassed itself during the snowy Christmas holiday. For over a week TransLink announced fewer, longer trains, manual operation, service disruptions and complete systems shutdowns. SkyTrain is not a new system, being in operation 23 years, there should be no ‘Gremlins’ to fix, but SkyTrain proved again, when it snows in Vancouver DO NOT […]

The case for Diesel LRT for the metro Vancouver region.

Diesel light-rail is a light-rail vehicle which is powered by a diesel engine, rather than electricity, conforming to the operational parameters of modern LRT. ThisAi??Ai??meansAi??Ai??Diesel LRTAi??Ai??can be installed very cheaply on routes that would otherwise not be considered for ‘rail’ transit, as itAi??Ai??forgoes the expense of the ‘overhead’ for electric transmission,Ai??Ai??giving large cost savings on […]

Can TransLink’s business cases be trusted?

Since last spring, the Light Rail Committee has circulated an E-Mail sent by American transit and transportation expert, Gerald Fox to a Victoria transit group that wants to promote LRT and diesel LRT into the Capital Region. Mr. Fox easily shreds TransLink’s business case for the Evergreen Line which shouldAi??Ai??forewarn transit groups in the Fraser […]

Diesel light-rail to Chilliwack – What will it cost?

One Canadian transit line, seldom mentioned by TransLink or the Minister for Transportation is Ottawa’s 8 km. diesel LRT line, called the O-Train. The five-station route connects to Ottawa’s existing east-west bus Transitway system with simple stations at its north and south ends. Because it uses an existing rail line, it cost only about $4 […]

Trams on the cheap – Part 2

Another news item from the Light Rail Transit Association (www.lrta.org), dispels the myth that light-rail or streetcars are very expensive to build. Here we have 5 km. of double track, including overhead, costing EUR 15 million or EUR 3 million per km. to build. In Canadian funds, EUR 15 million = CAD $27.75 million or […]

Trams on the cheap!

The following newsAi??Ai??item from the Light Rail Transit Association, in October 2006, should dispel any notion that modern light rail is too expensive to build, with construction costs approaching that of SkyTrain.Ai??Ai?? The equivalent cost of the VA?Ai??lA?Ai??z Malaga tramway today in Canadian fundsAi??Ai??is $30.5 Ai??Ai??million or about $6.6 million per km. to build, including […]

Hey, Mr. Falcon, why do you love SkyTrain?

BC politicians have had a long love affair with SkyTrain and one wonders why? British Columbia’sAi??Ai??politicians love spending billions of dollars on the prestigiousAi??Ai??SkyTrain light-metroAi??Ai??and the mind set is the more you spend on SkyTrain, the better it must be. Friends of the government love SkyTrain/light-metroAi??Ai??(oh yes they are theAi??Ai??same types that balk at raisingAi??Ai??or […]

What is SkyTrain?

Provincial politicians since 1980 have forced SkyTrain construction on the Expo Line, the Millennium Line, the Evergreen Line, and nowAi??Ai??a billion dollar plus extension in Surrey, yet very few people clearly understand what SkyTrain is,Ai??Ai??or whyAi??Ai??SkyTrain is built. Even fewer know that SkyTrain is a light-metro and able to give a definition of the transit […]

Light rail cheaper than buses – study

UBC Prof. Patrick Condon and Kari Dow have come to the startling conclusion that when you add capital costs together with operating costs, light rail is actually cheaper, per passenger per km, than any type of bus, and that Skytrain is the most expensive by far. This is very significant for the Fraser Valley, because […]

Brian Lewis: Transit boss’s credentials starting to show

Is Translink REALLY going to give honest consideration to light rail on the Interurban route? Brian Lewis seems to think so. He really likes their new CEO Tom Prendergast: Brian Lewis’s Province column yesterday Excerpt: “…after listening to Prendergast yesterday, my gut feeling says: Don’t count this guy out. He’s a consummate transit professional, as […]