Sapperton – Sapperton Station.

Sapperton Station (New Westminster) on the old BCE Burnaby lake Interurban Line, C. 1930’s. A full build, Vancouver to Chilliwack TramTrain, could once again have a Sapperton Station.

Over to you Mr. Cow – A View From a Canadian Transit Expert

Haveacow is a Canadian public transit specialist and what he says deserves to be listened to. As he is active in the transit profession in Canada, he would like to keep his real name out of the media. The following is his reply to a post about BRT and contains so much importantAi?? information that […]

The Fiscal Realities of Subways Surface

Taxpayers in Ontario are slowly awakening up to the fiscal realities of modern subway construction, just as their European counterparts did in the 1970’s and 80’s. Little known on this side of the pond, is that subway construction in Europe has almost bankrupted public transit en mass and by the 1990’s subways were only considered […]

Crossing the Fraser

In answer to a private email, yes indeed the Chilliwack interurban did cross the Fraser River, using the then Great Northern Railway Fraser River Bridge. The photo is a Chilliwack bound train in the late 1940’s. And yes, the proposed TramTrain could use the same bridge today.

LRT Saves Highway Space

This is from a Siemens promo for light rail from the 1980’s. Self explanatory, it gives a good visual how modern LRT saves highway space. It also shows that modern LRT could be built on Broadway and still provide road space for autos and with parking.  

Some People Get It

Light Rail is a streetcar that operated on a reserved rights-of-way. The resounding NO vote has changed the tune, somewhat, of the Vancouver Sun’s reporting of regional transit issues. How long this will last is anyone’s guess. Zwei voted no because I thought the plan was unworkable; a $3 billion subway from Glen-Clark Station to […]

Plan B – the Leewood/Railfor the Valley TramTrain.

With the resounding defeat of the YES side in the recent plebiscite, maybe it is time to dust off the Leewood/Rail for the Valley Study. The simple fact is, other groups are, without acknowledging the massive efforts Rail for the Valley has invested in this project, trying to take credit for a plan B! The […]

Committee approves Ottawa light rail transitai??i??s $3-billion second phase design

I think $3 billion is a tad too expensive, but I am sure Mr. Haveacow will explain the reasons why. I still maintain that we must plan and build LRT much cheaper than we are currently doing. On another issue, the claim that: ” noise and vibrations ai??i?? both from the construction and trains themselves […]

First look at Nottinghamai??i??s new tram line

Zwei lived in Nottingham in the mid 70’s and is where I first gained interest in urban transit. While waiting for my then girl friend, who was attending night school, I chanced a free public lecture by a Professor of Transportation (forgot his name) and was so entertaining that I still smile at some of […]

Is it time for TransLink to study TramTrain?

Another TramTrain is being installed and I thing it is time that both TransLink and BC Transit send a fact finding tour to Europe to investigate TramTrain! As expensive vanity transit projects are seriously in trouble, the time has come to study 21st century transit philosophy and rethink expensive 20th century mini-metro. The Leewood/Rail for […]