Re: Get pilot commuter rail project on track, Letters, Oct. 12, 2011.
I question Ted LewallB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™s scheme to cheaply modify buses to run on the E&N tracks.
Railway maintenance pickup trucks use different main wheels to make their tires fit the distance between railway tracks B´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·” the small flanged wheels keep the truck on the slippery track.
Also note transit buses have dual rear wheels, and are wider than standard pickup trucks B´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·” they simply wonB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™t fit unless railway car wheels of proper size and strength are fitted somehow at substantial cost.
As well I ask how fast railway maintenance pickup trucks travel. A transit demonstration project would have to provide a reasonable travel time match to the eventual service, otherwise market response would be under-measured.
So the buses must be able to travel as fast as a normal train, thus must have strength, stability and braking capability equal to normal trains.
Lewalt correctly points to the deplorable state of E&N tracks, which has been obvious for a long time to anyone who looked at the track, but apparently was ignored by the Island Corridor Foundation.
I have pointed to the value of a valid demonstration project, but somehow between the ICF and VIA Rail theyB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™ve impaired the ability to do that by letting the trains and track deteriorate to unsafe condition.
Lewalt would have to prove to me the safety of his scheme before IB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™d want to be anywhere near his cheaply modified buses, let alone on them.
Keith Sketchley
Saanich