A Subway Conversation Unheard in Vancouver

Subways sound great – at first, but when the realities of subway operation, including extremely high costs and user unfriendliness, the love affair with subways tend to wane with customers. The huge cost of subway construction, means economies must be had and in Scarborough, those economies mean a lack of stations. Subway stations are both […]

An Election come And Gone

Just brief notes on the election or deciphering the entrails before they get cold. It seems the SkyTrain/TransLink curse has now caused the Liberal Minister responsible for TransLink, Peter Fassbender to lose his seat. Regional transportation has been made the “kiss of death” for politicians by successive NDP and Liberal governments and combined with weak […]

UK Developer Must Help pay for Rail Connection

The UK is reopening once abandoned rail lines to cope with congestion and increased population. A UK developer must pay A?13.2m (CAD $23.25m) towards the restoration of the Bere Alston Tavistock railway route before building 750 new homes. This works out to CAD $31,000 per home. When one looks at the massive developments happening in […]

The NDP Support “Rail” Transit for the Fraser Valley

Well it tool seven long years for this as it is the first time any of the mainstream political parties have even acknowledged the need for a passenger/commuter rail service for the Fraser Valley. The main contender? Rail for the Valley’s Leewood Study provides the the fasted and most affordable service and must be considered […]

A letter sent to Surrey Council – LRT in Surrey Part 1.

From the usual suspect, long time LRT and tram advocate Malcolm Johnston. What has been forgotten by most, is the historical context for our light metro system has been lost, due to political, bureaucratic and academic intrigue. The illustrations have been removed for brevity.   Dear Mayor and Council; My name is Malcolm Johnston and […]

TramTrain – It’s Time To Have Another Look At The Leewood Project

While local politicians squabble about expensive transit planning and gouging the taxpayer to pay for multi billion dollar transportation vanity projects, economic and user friendly TramTrain construction and operation continue to increase. Isn’t time for politicians have another look at the Leewood/Rail for the Valley Study?   Stadler selected to supply Szeged tram-trains 19 Apr […]

Are SkyTrain’s MK. 1 Cars Safe?

As the Scarborough ICTS cars and Vancouver’s MK.1 cars are the same, one would surmise there are corrosion problems with Vancouver’s cars, especially in Vancouver with airborne salt from the sea. Does the public have the confidence in TransLink to keep them safe? Scarborough RT vehicles need repairs to avoid ai???catastrophicai??i?? corrosion failures TTC asking […]

Tram-trains on test in Sheffield

TramTrain operation is expanding at a good pace in Europe, where the economy and customer friendliness of the mode is now established. Is it not time our politicians, planners and especially BC Transit and TransLink have a look at the mode? I find it disturbing that TransLink is so ready to foist an European road […]

The Subway Panacea Myth

Subway here, a subway there, a subway everywhere. The notion that a subway is best way to solve congestion, emanates from the USA where it is considered the biggest is the best. The more expensive a transit project is, the better it is. This is simply childish. Subways are built on transit routes which have […]

This Is No April Fools – None The Less, The Fool Is The CBC

I just shake my head at this. At first, I thought it was an April fools joke, but no, it’s not, rather it is a reporting farce. A chap who is a mining shill, with no expertise in public transport is calling for a subway to be built to UBC. All he is trying to […]