Did you know about the Expo 86 Railbus?
Posted on September 3rd, 2008 in rants, transportation, vancouver |
Cause I sure didn’t, and I’ve studied Expo a decent amount through the years. Railbus, as operated by the British Railways, ran between Abbotsford and New Westminster for eight weeks during Expo 86 along the old Interurban tracks. It connected up at New West with SkyTrain. A return ticket was $12. Here’s some pics:
Railbus on Front Street in New Westminster
Railbus at Front St and Begbie in New Westminster
Railbus at the Trapp Yard
Railbus approaching the New West rail bridge
Interesting that we used rail to transport people to Expo, but the government of today eschewed the BC Rail corridor going to Whistler for passenger service, instead opting for an upgraded highway.
Furthermore, why could they run passenger trains back then, but we can’t even do so now?
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One Response
The diesel railbus was an unsuccessful (in the UK) DMU (Diesel Multiple Unit), which was later redesigned into something more successful. Part of the problem is that it operates on 4 axles and not trucks (bogies), which required very well maintained track. Unfortunately, the railbus’s role was to operate on lightly used passenger lines, no longer than 10 km. to 20 km. with poorly maintained track.
The railbus here ran three round trips a day from New West minster to Abbotsford during Expo 86 and as rumor would have it, was so successful attracting ridership that the Socreds sold the BC Hydro Railway because they were afraid of much cheaper LRT operating on the route as they didn’t want any direct cost comparisons to the newly built, and problem plagued (only a few months of operation BC Transit were replacing the wheels at an alarming rate, so much so, they were air freighting them in!) SkyTrain system.