Quote:
Originally Posted by Trainguy
LRT to the valley on the old interurban through Surrey and out to ABB/ Chilliwack would not be feasible.
A Quick History:
BC Hydro took over all the operations of the BC Electric back on the 60's including the interurban line out to Chilliwack. In the 1970's a line was built ( by CPrail? ) from the CN mainline just east of Fort Langley to connect with the BC Hydro line at 232nd to enable coal trains to reach Roberts Bank coal terminal. The spur line west of 184th street is owned by BC Rail with trackage rights to CN, CP, and BNSF.
This is where things get tricky. The corridor, which runs from 184th Street in Surrey, to 232nd Street in Langley, was previously owned and operated by BC Hydro until 1988, when BC Hydro sold the tracks and the equipment to CP Rail. BC Hydro still owns the land that the tracks are on, and in the 1988 agreement, BC Hydro reserved the right to operate a railway, including passenger trains, on the tracks at no cost.
The tracks that the SRY operate on go from New West through Surrey until Cloverdale, and then under operating rights from CP, continue to 232nd street where they rejoin the SRY tracks to Chilliwack.
In order to run an LRT along this whole stretch, it would take operating agreements from several parties which I doubt would come easily, especially east of 184th st because it is very busy already. This is why the FVHR only goes as far as Cloverdale. Also, the tracks through Surrey would need a major upgrade to reach LRT standards.
|
It's not LRT, it's commuter rail. There's enough space to build a 2nd line through Cloverdale- the section where the SRY tracks merge pretty much all have enough space for another (single) track.
I mean, BC Hydro did still maintain passenger rail rights to the land, and the land itself. In the end, the rail operators are still subservient to its demands, at least on the SRY corridor.
The issue, as always is money and will.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trainguy
Originally Posted by ilikeredheads View Post
WCE has no track priority. It's using CN's tracks where freight trains are the boss. Any time there's delay for WCE you can bet it's caused by having to wait for one of the freight trains to clear. Translink couldn't improve WCE service even if they wanted to because they'll be at the mercy of CN.
Our entire rail network in Lower Mainland is designed for freight, even then the infrastructure is showing its age. New West bridge is a HUGE bottle neck and it's needs to be replaced and needs to be double track. Running passenger rail on a freight network will run into all sorts of logistical problems and affect reliability. WCE is an oddity and it only exists because CN allows it to exist.
WCE runs on CP Rail trackage, not CN. CN is on the south side of the Fraser River.
|
I was referring to extending the WCE to the Fraser Valley, which would require upgrades to the Westminister Bridge, barring transfer to either a Newton or Langley City Skytrain Station.
Prev
.
Linear Mode
