From Tramways & Urban Transit – Denver receives first new FasTracks LRVs

Denver light rail system Ai??Ai??is one of America’s great success stories, so successful that the cityAi??Ai??has large expansion plans for their LRT system with over 195 miles of new lines to be built in the coming years.Ai??Ai??Denver’sAi??Ai??Ai??Ai??light rail system was the only public or privateAi??Ai??transitAi??Ai??operation that was runningAi??Ai??during the great blizzard and only ceased operationsAi??Ai??because […]

VA?Ai??hicule Automatique LA?Ai??ger or VAL – SkyTrain’s real competition!

SkyTrainAi??Ai??is not in a class of its own, despite first being marketed as ICTS or Intermediate Capacity Transit System, which was more a marketing nameAi??Ai??not a transitAi??Ai??mode. SkyTrainAi??Ai??is a light-metro andAi??Ai??though SkyTrainAi??Ai??initially competed against light rail,Ai??Ai??it was soon found that SkyTrain could only compete againstAi??Ai??other light-metros that were being marketed for the modal niche. Only […]

A press Release from the Light Rail Transit Association – Rail for the Valley asks: What is more ‘Green’, a multi lane highway or the interurban?

Ai??Ai??Zweisystem includes this news release from Tram Forward & the LRTA because our provincial and federal politicians are taking the same path,Ai??Ai??pretending they are ‘Green‘ by building expensive ‘show-case’ metro systems, but fail to show any real interest in funding affordable and sustainable light rail in the province and country. In BC it is far […]

The ULTRA LIGHT RAIL concept

A recent comment about Ultra Light Rail deserves an entry in the Rail for the Valley Blog. Though I do believe that ULT is not applicable for the 90 km. Valley Interurban, where larger vehicles are needed, Ultra light rail could have applications in specific niche areas in Metro VancouverAi??Ai??such as a downtown Vancouver to […]

Nottingham’s light rail system – a real P-3 project!

The Nottingham (city pop. 275,000) light rail project should be of interest, because it was and is a true example of a P-3 (Public/Private/Partnership), where the operating consortium, Transdev, not only went to the international banks for financing, but assumed all risk. Today, Nottingham’s NET light rail systems, operates at a profit, even after paying […]

The Last of the Interurbans #4 – The Electroliner, the last great Interurban!

The Electroliners were a pair of electric triple articulated interurban train sets operated by the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad, which ran between Chicago, Illinois, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. These streamlined electricAi??Ai??articulated interurban trains were built by St. Louis Car Company in 1941. Each train set carried two numbers, 801-802 and 803-804. Although the Electroliners […]

International News from Tramways & Urban Transit – Alstom wins Brasilia tramway contract

Ai??Ai?? August 19, 2009 Alstom wins Brasilia tramway contract The Brastram consortium, led by Alstom, has won the EUR265m (CAD$409.1 m)Ai??Ai??contract to build the 8.7km phase 1 tramway, designed to reduce car traffic by 30% on the congested Avenida W3 Sul from Asa Sul to 502 Norte. Alstom Citadis trams featuring APS surface current collection […]

The last of the interurbans #3; the last American Interurban – The Chicago, Illinois / South Bend, Indiana: The South Shore Line

The The South Shore Line, operating on both regular railway tracks and on, on-street trackage, is strong evidence that the Fraser Valley could still do the same in 2009 and beyond. In an age of expensive SkyTrain light-metro and even more expensive, glitzy subways like that RAV/Canada line, it is still interesting to noteAi??Ai??that the […]

Tech. stuff for light rail – The LR55 rail system

What is of interest is that the SkyTrain lobby decry any sort of LRT/streetcar installation on Broadway as catastrophic, yet tram tracks can be laid quite quickly, depending on the method used, in Nottingham, penalties were to applied against the contractor, if tram track installation were to directly affect merchants directly adjacent to the construction […]

Tech. stuff for light rail – Single track and interlaced operations

Since the proposed Interurban will run mainly on single track, with passing loops at strategic places, the following U-Tube video is instructive on the relative ease of single track operation. Of course single track operation is a lot cheaper than dual track (which can be added when demand warrants), construction and with an initial one […]