Ai??koda 30T – a new LRV in Europe

Ai??koda Transportation won the tram tender in Bratislava PlzeA?/Bratislava, 18. 7. 2013 ai??i?? Today, the company Ai??koda Transportation signed the contract for the supply of trams for the Slovakian metropolis Bratislava. It concerns fifteen two-way modern trams for the price of 39 millions of Euros (975 millions of Czech crowns). The tender also includes the […]

Liz James Sings The TransLink Blues

Liz James is one of the few columnists in the region that has taken the times to research our local transit fiasco and she has well demonstrated that she understands the issue. Unlike the mainstream media, which collectively have not done much research on the issue (some even believe that no builds with LRT anymore!) […]

Liz James asks important questions

Liz James, who writes opinion pieces for the North Shore News, asks some ‘striking’ questions of the Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation, the question is; “are they willing to answer?“ The answer is no, as the regional mayors are afraid of a referendum and the reason is simple, they are afraid of a “none of […]

COLUMN: Surrey had great transit ai??i?? 100 years ago

From the Surrey News leader. The following link is for the Rail for the Valley/Leewood study for the return of the interurban! COLUMN: Surrey had great transit ai??i?? 100 years ago By Frank Bucholtz – Surrey North Delta Leader Published: June 26, 2013 I never thought I would ever see a genuine B.C. Electric Railway […]

TransLink Whinges for More Money

TransLink’s gold-plated transit planning needs funding and the the question is, which politicians are foolish enough to let Translink squander billions more taxpayer’s dollars? A Broadway subway costing $3 billion? Well if the proposed subway goes to UBC, the cost would be more like $4 billion. LRT can’t operate on Broadway? A LRT line on […]

Has TransLink Ignored SkyTrain Safety by Refusing to Install Sliding Doors at Stations?

The VAL automatic metro in Lille, France has sliding doors at stations to prevent suicides as mandated by EEC rules for automatic metro systems. This begs the question; “Has TransLink ignored this important safety feature to reduce costs for the SkyTrain and Canada line mini-metro systems?” The sad answer is that TransLink finds it cheaper […]

TransLink wants $23 billion to expand transit system

From your wildest dreams department: TransLink wants 23 billion dollars over the next three decades to improve transit. Ha, ha, ha; and this from an organization who has been less than honest about transit since their inception. Really boys & girls, do you still want the public to believe that subways will attract more new […]

Why do some governments see Metros as more prestigious than Light Rail?

A pertinent question posed on one of the Light Rail discussion groups, particularly relevant in relation to Skytrain & the City’s of Surrey and Vancouver. A selection of answers: 1) Very simple. Because it is more expensive. There is nothing as prestigious as money. And then there is the tendency of: “The neighbouring community have […]

Coffee and Trams in Bad Wildbad.

Here we have a Karlsruhe TramTrain at a station or stop in BadAi?? Wildbad in Germany. It seems the closeness of the tram line, winding through the town doesn’t seem to excite the locals, including the folks have a coffee at the track side cafe! One wonders, could such an idyllic scene be possible in […]

French Trams Of The Future Could be Surrey’s Too!

I found this Alstom tram of the future quite striking! Designed by Alex Nadal, the tram is a tramtrain, able to operate both on tram (LRT) lines and on the mainline railways.