From the Gaurdian UK – Key oil figures were distorted by US pressure, says whistleblower

Some sobering news from the U.K. If the article is true, then Campbell’s gamble on Gateway and the new Port Mann Bridge will be a colossal mistake; again the same is true of the RAV/Canada Line and the yet to be built Evergreen SkyTrain Line, which are far too expensive to expand to meet demand. […]

From the Vancouver Sun – "Financial review finds TransLink has "significant operational issues" – So, what else is new?

The province’s financial review was all too predictable, TransLink has problems. Well, for anyone who has tried to deal with TransLink’s bloated and arrogant bureaucracy, this is not news and the report is as I expected. The problems with TransLink can be summed up as: 1) Building metro (SkyTrain & RAV) on routes that do […]

Prendergast says Adios to Translink and Bails – Could it be TransLink is sinking faster than the Titanic? Are the Rats Leaving a Doomed Ship?

It seems TransLink’s most recent and newly hired CEO Tom Prendergast has bailed and no wonder, regional mayors offered a royal raspberry forAi??Ai??his request for massive funding. Prendergast is no fool, he knows that by building metros such as the Evergreen Line on routes that do not have the ridership to sustain them will lead, […]

From the Georgia Straight- TransLink jacks up ad spending in Canwest papers

The article by Charlie Smith poses three very important questions: 1) If TransLink is broke, has the organization has claimed, how do they justify spending such vast sums of money on advertising? 2) Does the money spent on advertising, come from bus and transit operations? 3) Is advertising money an attempt to influence media and […]

A Fact Sheet From the Light Rapid Transit Forum

It is interesting to note that TransLink has never claimed any modal shift from car to transit and one would well guess thatAi??Ai??TransLink’s bureaucratsAi??Ai??would beAi??Ai??extremely envious of the modal shift numbers published here. A question for Premier Campbell: “Has the RAV/Canada line taken your predicted 200,000 car trips off the road per day?” Has anyone […]

Last of the Interurbans #5 – Europe’s Coastal Interurban – The 68 km. De Lijn Tramway, Connecting Small Belgium Coastal Towns

The De Lijn or Coastal Tram offers a an unique journey, with the North Sea on one side and large tracts of open country on the other, offers a true interurban journey, connecting Belgium coastal towns from the French to Dutch boarders. The largest city the Coastal Tram passes through is Oostende, population 70,000 with […]

Getting Valley rail on track – From the Abby News

More positive news from the Fraser Valley Press. Getting Valley rail on track Published: October 28, 2009 2:00 PM A regular train service arrives in downtown Abbotsford from Surrey and Langley, collecting passengers and transporting them to other areas of the city or as far east as Chilliwack. It may sound like a long-term dream […]

The German East Frisian Islands Railways – Interurbans all the same.

The small German East Frisian Islands of Borkum, Langeoog,Ai??Ai??Wangeroog, and SpiekeroogAi??Ai??all operate narrow guage railways to help service tourist destinations on the almost car free ecologically sensitive islands. Even though the trains operated are steamAi??Ai??or diesel hauled, they preform the function of an interurban,Ai??Ai??conveying passengers fromAi??Ai??ferry piers to the main villages. Having rail transport means […]

STRASBOURG – Beautiful City – Beautiful Trams

The French city of Strasbourg (Ai??Ai??populationAi??Ai?? 276,867Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??in 2006),Ai??Ai??which its historic city centre was classified a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1988, decided in the early 1990’s toAi??Ai??build a modern tramway system,Ai??Ai??using theAi??Ai??innovative and attractiveAi??Ai??ADTranz Eurotram rolling stock .Ai??Ai??In 1994 Line A opened, with a north-southAi??Ai??route running from Hautpierre-Maillon (north-west) to the city center (where […]

Alaskan Way Viaduct – Earthquake Simulation – from U-Tube. Could this be deja vu for SkyTrain?

The following video from theAi??Ai??Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), showing the effects of a 7.0 earthquake in Seattle is telling and is very much worth a watch. Even though Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct isAi??Ai??long past its primeAi??Ai??and not designed for catastrophic earthquakes, it’s collapseAi??Ai??plus theAi??Ai??failure of other aged infrastructure is chilling. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hos_uIKwC-c] The late […]