The hysteria of the anti-LRT lobby – Time to get real!

On other local and US blogs, there is a growing hysteria that once light rail (streetcar or tram) operates on-street, there will be general panic among pedestrians, ultimately throwing themselves under the tram! Shades of the 1820’s railway hysteria, where trains were claimed to cause insanity and sour cows milk! I’m sorry to say, that […]

The Strange Case of the Karlsruhe TramTrain – Streetcar, LRV, or Commuter Train?

Recent posts on the LRTA blog, debated the the present definitions of streetcar/tram and light rail. North Americans tend to define LRT as a light-metro, where as EuropeansAi??Ai??associated LRT as a tram. Now added to the debateAi??Ai??is the tramtrain and the strange case of the Karlsruhe’s new Zweisystem (two system) LRT:Ai??Ai??is itAi??Ai??a tram or a […]

A MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL – FROM RAIL FOR THE VALLEY

From the Zweisystem and the rest of the Rail For The Valley Gang A very merry Christmas and a very happy and safe New Year! A Darmstadt tram plowing through a snow storm.

TransLink Faregate Fiasco – Mr. Dobell wins again!

Stephen Rees’s blog has a good article on TransLink’s faregate fiasco and is well worth a read. The fare gate issue is not one of safety or making people pay, rather it is one of political influence and meddling. If the cost of implementing and operating faregates is $30 million annually as claimed by TransLink […]

From the New York Times – Why Is the M.T.A. Always in Trouble?

It seems that TransLink’s former CEOAi??Ai??may haveAi??Ai??jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire, as New York’s Metropolitan Transportation authority (MTA) seems to be in severe financial distress. There has been much positive news here of late about the MTA, but it seems the transit authority faces the same problems as most others […]

Global Warming, Copenhagen, & Light Rail – The Solution That Is Ignored

When one looks past the European street theater of riots, the embarrassment of Canada, the intransigence of the USA, China and Russia, what will Copenhagen climate conference accomplish? Probably very little. The world is not ready for global warming and if a few island nations submerge due to rising sea levels, no one will really […]

Trams for the 21st Century – Alstom Citadis

Ai??Ai?? Bombardier and Siemens trams also have stiff competition from France’s Alstom’s Citadis modular tram. Alstolm’sAi??Ai??Citadis family of modular tramsAi??Ai??includes both partially low-floor and 100% low-floor trams,Ai??Ai??which can be delivered inAi??Ai??three, five, and seven sections, to suit the needs of individual costumers. The Citadis family of modular tramsAi??Ai??comprises of: Citadis 100 – three section, 70% […]

Trams for the 21st Century – Siemen’s Combino

With Bombardier’s two Flexity Outlook trams arriving in Vancouver, let’s take a look what the other companies have to offer for trams for the 21st century. Siemen’s Combino modular car The Combino is a low floor tramAi??Ai??made by Siemens Transportation Systems and firstAi??Ai??model came off the assembly lineAi??Ai??in 1996 at the Duewag works in DA?A?sseldorf, […]

Looming Bus Rapid Transit Fiasco in the UK? – From the Cambridge News: Millions at stake after latest busway wrangle

The UK government have been very pro BRT and the Cambridge – St. Ives BRT was to have been a showcase for Bus Rapid Transit. A dedicated group called CAST. IRON, promoting a ‘rail‘ solution predicted many of the problems now facing the Cambridge BRT and questioned the financing of the scheme. Sounds familiar doesn’t […]

Last of the Interurbans Part 6 – The Rittnerbahn – A True Interurban Railway

Ai??Ai?? The 11.8 km. Rittnerbahn, located in the Western part of the Italian Dolimites,Ai??Ai??once connected the cityAi??Ai??Bolzano with the Ritten plateau and today only connects the villages on the Ritten plateau. Opened in 1907, the interurbanAi??Ai??line started at Walther Square in the center of Bolzano where it shared the track with the Bolzano trams untilAi??Ai??it […]