SkyTrain – The Multi Billion Dollar Voter Bribe

Originally posted in 2016, ten years and an estimated $16 billion later, the true costs of building SkyTrain does not resonate with our local politcans. I will add comments and give 2026 dollar figures where necessary. The graph is from Ontario’s MetroLinx, and our SkyTrain light metro system, falls in the “subway” category of 50 […]

SkyTrain To Rootin Tootin Newton? It Must Be Election Time

It is the silly season folks and the NDP and Conservatives have made promises to build more SkyTrain and why not, as politcal promises are easily made but much harder to keep. The first question I will ask is the cost? Based on the Langley extension, around $3.2 billion, not including cars, signalling, added electrical […]

Don’t Talk To Me About Fast Ferry’s! The SkyTrain Fiasco Is Far Worse!

Erfurt – Germany In Germany, the average cost to construct a new at-grade, 2-track (double) street tramway typically ranges from €10 million to €20 million per kilometer (CAD $16 million to $32 million) This includes the physical track installation, embedding in the road, overhead electrification, and basic stop infrastructure.  However, total project costs fluctuate heavily […]

SkyTrain Really Isn’t A Regional Distance Based, Rapid Transit System

First published in 2022, this post remains extremity relevant today. Four years have gone by and the cost today of the Expo Line extension to Surrey is now estimated at $7 billion and that is just for the guideway, which the federal government is paying 40%of the cost. Zwei has been told privately that the […]

Trams Having Limited Capacity? – SURELY NOT!

The “gelb wand” (yellow wall) of trams in Karlsruhe Germany With the the Province; the City of  Vancouver and TransLink continued selling big porkies about LRT, the following will be enlightening! The ongoing planning and construction charade currently being played out by the usual suspects including cities of Vancouver & Surrey, TransLink and the provincial […]

The Pied Piper of SkyTrain

Evidently, the 16km Expo Line to Langley is in trouble, so who else to defend this hugely expensive project but the folks at SkyTrain for Surrey, otherwise known as FOX Entertainment North. The claims made by SFS are breathtaking and needs serious comment. True to form, the deliberate misinformation by SkyTrain for Surrey is again […]

Slander

The continued debate about the trains that operate on the Expo and Millennium Lines continues. The SkyTrain for Surrey folks have crossed the line on this issue and Rail for the Valley call for a retraction of their recent News Release or face possible legal action. The claim that Rail for the Valley and others […]

Dutch Regional Railways – A Model For The E&N?

Single track stub terminal station at Leeuwarden. (Harlingen–Nieuweschans Railway) Scheemda Station. Please note, cyclists use bicycles to commute to the station to take the train! (Harlingen–Nieuweschans Railway) A single stub terminal station at Stavoren. (Leeuwarden–Stavoren Railway) Franeker Station. Simple platform station with minimal amenities. (Harlingen–Nieuweschans Railway)

BRT – A View From a Canadian Transit Expert

Originally posted in 2015 I have updated the post but since very little has changed about BRT over the past decade, that there is little to update. Real BRT has reached its maximum potential, unless tree-articulated buses become the norm and that has made BRT a niche transit mode to deal with niche transit issues. […]

TransLink Underestimated Capacity Of LRT By 150% And The Time Penalty By Infinity

First posted by zweisystem on Tuesday, November 17, 2020 (updated) I am reposting this from November 2020 because TransLink, civic and provincial politicians are singing hosannas about Bus Rapid Transit, with some going so far to say that BRT makes light rail obsolete! What is damning today is that the numbers used in TransLink’s 2019 […]