Will TransLink Overly Invest In Subways In Vancouver?

Interesting article from Toronto. In Germany in the 1960’s and 70’s many cities started building subways and replacing their surface tramways. The first noticeable change was that ridership dropped and for many, journey times increased. This was due to many more km. of tramway being abandoned compared to the very few km. of new subway […]

The Truth Slowly Ekes Out – Surprise, Surprise

Well, someone is waking up at the Vancouver Sun or are they. SkyTrain is obsolete. The philosophy behind the operation of SkyTrain is obsolete. Obsolete transit mode + obsolete transit philosophy = lagging ridership. So it should come as no surprise Vancouver spends more for transit, but like fools at a carnival, planners and politicians, […]

Public Meeting Re: The Arbutus Corridor

The Arbutus Corridor: A Way Forward? You might think that thereai??i??s no solution to the conflict over the Arbutus rail corridor. Canadian Pacific Rail wants $100 million for its right-of-way. The City of Vancouver has offered $20m. Neighbourhood gardens, longstanding although trespassing, have been ripped up just before harvestai??i?? and electionai??i?? time. Trains, moving or […]

The seamless (no transfer) journey – Transit’s Holy Grail!

A repost from 2009 – updated. Route 5 (tramtrain) travels from Worth t0 Bietigheim-Bissingen, through downtown Karlsruhe. It has been long known that the seamless or no transfer journey is the ‘ticket’ to attract customers to public transit as it is well understood that one could lose upwards of 70% of ridership per transfer, even […]

Streetcars and LRT, A Quick Primer

First published in the RftV blog in 2011, it is still pertinent today. Updated to August 2014. The silly season continues in the Vancouver region, with TransLink desperately trying to persuade regional mayors to levy more taxes to mainly pay for the Evergreen SkyTrain light-metro line and a SkyTrain subway under Broadway. The following is […]

We Must Welcome The 21st Century

Not really about urban rail, but still important for the planned Chilliwack interurban. Railways need to emerge from the 19th century into the 21st and the federal government must emerge from its 18thAi?? Laissez faire mentality. If France, the UK, and Germany can operate trams, in mixed traffic, on mainline railways, Canada can do it […]

Alstom Appitrack – Would Broadway Be A Good Candidate?

AppiTrack Alstomai??i??s fast automated tracklaying technology, Appitrack, was chosen as the Innovation of the Year at the 2011 Light Rail awards held in London on 5th October. The system allows for limited excavation depths in order to speed up track-laying time with the ability to lay up to 200 metres of track per day, compared […]

The Vancouver Province Shills For The Canada Line

40 metre to 50 metre station platforms limit the Canada line train to just two cars, severely limiting capacity. I see TransLink is calling in its markers from the mainstream media and a staff writer (infomercial maybe) has penned a puff piece for the Canada Line. No mention is made of the tens of thousands […]

Speaking of the Arbutus Corridor…………..

A Marpole bound interurban crosses 41st. Please note trolleybus and the overhead. ……. why TransLink will never support LRT on the Arbutus and why the City of Vancouver wants the ‘Arbutus” for a glorified bike lane. Evergreen Line is said to cost no more than $1.4 billion for just over 11 km of line and […]

In 1986………….

In 1986, during the duration of Expo 86 in Vancouver there was a passenger rail service from New Westminster to Abbotsford. A British Rail Class 142 Pacer DMU at Abbotsford station in the summer of 1986. If it could be done in 1986, it can certainly be done in 2014. What is not said is […]