Bogota TransMilenio ‘BRT’ selling ‘carbon credits’ – From the Light Rail now folks

This is an interesting article, but badly marred by very poor research by the author.Ai??Ai?? It also should be noted that bus ridership figuresAi??Ai??for South American BRT’s have proven to be greatly overstated. What also isAi??Ai??not mentioned isAi??Ai??that BRT has been disappointing in operation in North America, India, Australia and Europe, failing to achieve projected […]

Get ready, Seattle: You’re about to be a light-rail town – From the Seattle Times

Ai??Ai??Seattle’s LRT line is “four to six times costlier than other light-rail startups in western states“, as planners designed the light rail service as a light-metro, with miles of expensive viaducts and even more expensive subway tunnels. The same sort of nonsense happened with BC Transit’s LRT plans for Broadway and Translink’s light rail plans […]

Tram-train backed in the UK. Can we expect the same here?

Ai??Ai??WhatAi??Ai?? is important to note is that the very thorough and highly respectedAi??Ai??Her Majesty’s Railway Inspectorate is now investigating the safety and implementation of TramTrain in the UK; if it passes the HMRI it can be well assured that TramTrain will be safe for operation on the “interurban” line, on this side of the pond! […]

The little railway that could – From the Globe and Mail

Food for though; has anyone ever thought of buying the old interurban railway? Would the current owner consider selling? Patrick White Darlingford, Man. A?ai??i??ai??? From Wednesday’s Globe and Mail Last updated on Wednesday, Jul. 01, 2009 02:56AM EDT The jangle of crossing bells never sounded so sweet. They echoed across the town green in Darlingford, […]

What is the Cost of Building a Subway Line? Are Vancouver’s subway plans realistic?

Ai??Ai?? I found this item on the excellent ‘ The Toronto LRT Information Page’ http://lrt.daxack.ca/Ai??Ai?? What is the Cost of Building a Subway Line? Underground: $200 million to $250 million per kilometre At grade: $150 million to $200 million per kilometre …plus the cost of vehicles. Since Toronto has recent examples of constructed and proposed […]

Cranleigh Railway Line: All stop Bramley Station!

Rail for the Valley is not alone in trying to reinstate little used, abandoned, disused or mothballed rail lines for passenger use. The following web site for the Cranleigh reopening project……. http://www.cranleighrailway.info/reopen.htm ……in the U.K. is well worth a visit.Ai??Ai??One useful idea whichAi??Ai??could be copied,Ai??Ai??is aAi??Ai??a ‘model’ Valley Interurban station, locatedAi??Ai??in Chilliwack, Abbotsford or Langley […]

Electrification Suddenly in Vogue Again

The Transport Politic 18 June 2009 Electrification Suddenly in Vogue Again Canadian, British, American railroad officials fighting to replace diesel locomotives. With efforts to combat climate change ramping up and ridership on public transportation increasing steadily, electrification of main-line rail corridors is in. Yet, though railroads in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. are studying […]

Debunking the SkyTrain myth part 4 – The curse of the gadgetbahnen

Ai??Ai?? Ai??Ai?? Gadgetbahn (also gadgetbahnen) is a pejorative term used by some transit professionals to describe what they view as infeasible or unnecessary transportation concepts. It is a compounding of gadget, meaning “device that has a useful specific purpose and function. Gadgets tend to be more unusual or cleverly designed than normal technology,” and the […]

Tunnel vision correctable

A note by Zweisystem: Liz James is one of the few writers around who has taken the time to study the issue of transit and transportation and Rail for the Valley welcomes her article. Elizabeth James, Special To North Shore News Published:Ai??Ai??Sunday, June 14, 2009 a recent decision by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Ian Pitfield […]

TorontoA?ai??i??ai???s new streetcar: sleeker, lower, longer

By Allison Hanes, National Post TorontoA?ai??i??ai???s next generation of streetcars will be sleeker, lower, longer and bigger. At 28.2 metres, the new Bombardier cars will be longer than the iconic red rockets on the roads now, which stretch to a maximum of 22 metres. MORE: Bombardier gets nod for new streetcars.Ai??Ai?? Each will have five […]