More transit, more traffic problems, says think tank. But is that really the problem?

Interesting study out of the USA, but unfortunately wrong conclusions will be made, especially by the roads lobby. As for buses not attracting new customers, well duh, that little gem has been known for at least 30 years and if this were not so, we would not have been building new light rail lines in the […]

Allez le Tram, the Politics & Financing of the French Tram

The Cardinal has reported on the success of French Light Rail/Tramways, regularly on the Rail for the Valley blog. In this article the history, development, style, politics & importantly financing will be outlined. With a light rail renewal France has gone full steam ahead to become a leader in technological design and leading style. Howard […]

Toronto again! Ford & Gilbert sound-off & more irrelevant comparisons

Toronto owes mayor a thank you on transit Toronto Star.com February 24th http://www.thestar.com/opinion/article/943888–toronto-owes-mayor-a-thank-you-on-transit#article Toronto owes Mayor Rob Ford a big thank you for three things. [Most definitely not] The first is for raising timely doubts about the wisdom of proceeding with Transit City. This was the previous council’s expensive one-size-fits-all plan to replace buses on […]

More Porkies – The Port Mann Bridge

It has been said that a picture is worth a thousands words……………………….. ……………..but this picture of a cross section of the new ten lane Port Mann Bridge says it all – there is no rail transit being planned for the bridge! Even Zweisystem, with his rudimentary knowledge of engineering knows if that a bridge is […]

Staffing on light rail systems

From a previous post http://www.railforthevalley.com/latest-news/zweisystem/now-we-know-why-skytrain-is-so-expensive-to-operate/ we find that there are 600 or more employees (530 in the CUPE Union) that work on the SkyTrain Expo and Millennium Lines. The Canada Line is a conventional metro and employs over 200 people (with 180 in the CUPE union) and both metro systems are quite separate. The Canada Line, a […]

Light Rail Transit, LRT or Tram-Train

Tram and train used to be two entirely different public transport systems. Tram served shorter (read: urban) distances. Train served longer (read: regional) distances. But the difference between city and region has disappeared in much of Europe. The difference between tram and regional rail is blurring as well. A new generation of light rail transit […]

Tales of Buffoonery – Rob FordA?ai??i??ai???s anti streetcar/light rail saga continues!

Mr. Ford's utter stupidity is breathtaking and the financial roller coaster ride he is taking the Toronto taxpayer on is beyond belief. This is the sort of simpleton anti tram, anti light rail planning which seems to be the rigour of right-wing politicians in North America and Europe – to hide their real agendas of increasing car use, […]

First tram-train arrives in Lyon

France: Lyon Tram-Train Railway Gazette 22 February 2011 http://www.railwaygazette.com/nc/news/single-view/view/first-tram-train-arrives-in-lyon.html The first of 24 Citadis Dualis tram-trains for the TER network west of Lyon arrived at the L’Arbresle maintenance centre on February 18, having left Alstomai??i??s assembly plant in Valenciennes two days earlier. Two more vehicles will be delivered to SNCF in Lyon during the next […]

BC Liberal Responses to Fraser Valley Transit Survey

    In contrast to the Liberals, all NDP candidates responded positively to the survey, with top contenderAi??John HorganAi??going as far as explicitly stating his support for Light Rail as far east as Abbotsford and Chilliwack: ai???I support an at-grade light rail system through Surrey and Langley, eventually reachingAi??Abbotsford and even Chilliwack.”Ai??-John Horgan For many […]

Flagship BRT Fizzles in the USA

Bus Rapid Transit or BRT is the transit flavour ‘du jour’ of BC politicians. Any mention of transit in the region ultimately leads to BRT, as if it was the grand panacea to solve our transit woes. The trouble is, our politicos have never read a book about public transit,Ai??let aloneAi??perused the chapter on buses. […]