Saturday, August 9, 2008

Just the Facts, Ma'am


Light Rail Guy has left a new comment on your post "Bus service may be halved: TransLink":

Here are some facts that may further contribute to the TransLink fiasco.

- Expo Line rebuild + 10 km. extension in Surrey - $3 billion.

- Cost of SkyTrain to build - almost $200 million a km.

- Cost of Véléz Malaga (Spain) new LRT - $7 million a km.

- Cost of Canada Line subway - $2.5 billion+

- Capacity of Canada line subway as built - 15,000 persons per hour per direction.

- Cost of LRT on Arbutus Corridor - $20 million to $25 million a km.

- Capacity of LRT on Arbutus Corridor - 20,000 persons per hour per direction.

- Capacity promised with the SkyTrain Expo Line - 30,000 pphpd

- Capacity by contract, Millennium Line - 26,000

- Capacity of Expo Line, delivered - under 15,000 pphpd.

- Maximum capacity achieved by Hong Kong's Tuen Mun (at-grade) LRT - 25,000 pphpd.

- Estimated cost of a Vancouver to Steveston LRT (using the Arbutus Corridor) - $800 million.

- Operational costs of SkyTrain is about twice of that of LRT.

- Lifespan of LRT line before refurbishment 30 to 50 years.

- Lifespan of SkyTrain line before refurbishment - about 30 years.

Cities operating LRT - over 600

Cities operating SkyTrain - 5

It seems SkyTrain and its very high costs are strangling TransLink, yet we build more!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Lifespan of SkyTrain line before refurbishment - about 30 years."

Hmmmmm....so the Expo line should be refurbished by 2015-2020....lovely!

Anonymous said...

According to Vaughn Palmer, in Thursday's Sun and on the radio Friday, claimed that TransLink will spend $3 billion to extend SkyTrain 10/km. in Surrey and refurbish the existing line.

SkyTrain opened in 1986 and has been in in operation for 22 years.

The TTC is planning to scrap their SkyTrain (Scarborough Line) when the guideway reaches its life expectancy which they claim is about 30 years. The Expo Line is of the same design.

Vancouver in fact has two SkyTrain's:
1) The old UTDC ICTS/ALRT proprietary light-metro system (Expo Line)
2) Bombardier's ART light metro Line (Millennium Line)

Though both use Linear Induction motors, running both kind of vehicles on the two guideways has been problematic. Newer Bombardier metro cars (called Mk.2 cars), with longer wheelbases have difficulty with some of the sharp curvatures on the EXPO line and on the switches.

Also the Canada/RAV - metro/subway line, because it has conventional (squirrel cage motors) can't operate on the EXPO/Millennium Lines and the opposite is true with EXPO/Millennium Line trains on the Canada Line/RAV subway.

There can be no through running.

All this equate to is massive future subsidies by various levels of governments to keep Vancouver's metro systems running. Subsidies that the Liberals choose to ignore.