What are the different passenger rail options, what is LRT, what is Commuter Rail. It is very important to understand that their is signifigant differences in the speed, the coaches, diesel engines, electric and most importantly COST.

Commuter rail: Locomotive hauled rail coaches or diesel or electric multiple unit trains, catering specifically to peak hour transit demands.

Passenger rail: Any regularly scheduled passenger rail service.

Light Rail Transit: A rail mode that economically bridges the gap between what passenger loads that can be economically carried by bus and that of a metro, between 2,000 and 20,000 persons per hour per direction. LRT comes from the English term ‘light railway’ or a railway ‘light’ in costs. LRT is able to operate in mixed traffic on city streets, its own ‘reserved rights-of-way’, or on mainline railways. LRT can be built as a simple streetcar or as a light metro, and can combine any and all of the previous examples on one route.

The metro family: including light metro: A rail mode that operates on segregated rights-of-ways, due to longer rakes of passenger vehicles operating at close headways. Metros generally operate on elevated guideways or in subways and have more intensive signalling, sometimes including driverless operation. Metros are built to cater to large passenger volumes, in excess of 300,000 or more passengers per route (line) per direction per day.

Bus rapid transit (BRT): Any limited stop bus service including guided bus and buses using busways

The information below explains the costs associated with several transportation options that could be used to deliver a passenger rail service to the Fraser Valley. You will see below the costs of both the Canada Line and the proposed costs of the SkyTrain expansion.

The DRL costs are from a Translink study done at the end of 2006. It would be a system that would look like the Calgary C-Train. The UMA costs are from a City of Surrey study done at the beginning of 2007. The UMA system would look like the Ottawa O-Train. Both services would have at least 15min service at every station. The FVHRS is for operating a tourist train from Cloverdale to 152nd Street and 64th Avenue.

The average cost for light rail in North America is about $35m/kilometre

As you can see from the numbers, the cost of SkyTrain is 17 to 39 times that of the UMA study. Light rail is just as fast as SkyTrain, but for a fraction of the cost.

VALTAC continues to advocate for a "cost effective passenger rail service" and seriously hopes that Minister Kevin Falcon will lauch his study of the Interurban corridor as soon as possible.

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You are invited to join the www.lrta.org an organization that provides individuals or organizations who register as members with up to date news on state of the art LRT transportation solutions.

* Information provided by Donald Malcolm Johnston from the Delta Light Rail Committee