Tram-trains being considered for Glasgow Airport link
Loved this bit:
"Glasgow will be the last Central Belt airport without a tram or train link when Edinburgh is connected via the city’s new tram line in May"
Is Preswick "central belt"?
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » General Edinburgh
Tram latest
(2182 posts)-
Posted 10 years ago #
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Prestwick is central belt in a configuration that splits Scotland into border areas, central belt and highlands. Not a very accurate way of splitting things but getting to Glasgow airport by public transport trickier than Edinburgh or prestwick for sure.
Posted 10 years ago # -
A play actually on a tram that would be good, watch out next festival?
Posted 10 years ago # -
"
Tom Norris (@tomnorrisDGM)
03/03/2014 09:42
There will be trams running in the city this week anytime between 0800-1700 #besafe #listenforthebell #tramspotting @EdinburghTrams"
(Director & GM @edinburghtrams.)
Posted 10 years ago # -
I haven't seen one yet!
Posted 10 years ago # -
@ f
Just stand between the tracks, one will come to you.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Yeah but watch out for any men with long twirly moustaches, top hat and cape especially if they have rope/ chains etc
Posted 10 years ago # -
Bell can be heard a fair way off. Not sure how many people know what it's coming from!
Posted 10 years ago # -
Bell can be heard a fair way off.
So can my bike bell, but the effect is often missing!
Posted 10 years ago # -
I SAW ONE!!!!!!!
:-) :-) :-)In the distance, just coming towards Edinburgh Park from The Gyle as my train was pulling out.
Happy now ;-)
Posted 10 years ago # -
You'd think they'd run a free(?) shuttle service to try it out instead of 'hiring' local Guinea Pigs.
Posted 10 years ago # -
"
LEGAL eagles have warned the city council that it is leaving itself open to a slew of injury claims as a result of “lethal” tram tracks at Haymarket."
Posted 10 years ago # -
@chdot - re the guinea pigs - I'm sure the free service will come after the official opening. But I would have thought that at the moment anyone riding on the tram would have to sign a disclaimer, be taught safety instructions, etc.? Hence the selection of known guinea pigs?
Posted 10 years ago # -
@ cc
I'm sure that's correct.
Just need a few forms in French and some interpreters...
Posted 10 years ago # -
LEGAL eagles have warned the city council that it is leaving itself open to a slew of injury claims as a result of “lethal” tram tracks at Haymarket.
No surprise there.
The council (i.e. L Hindes) has admitted there's a problem, done nothing meaningful about it, and made comments - like "try to cross as close to 45 degrees as possible - that could easily be interpreted as whatever the legal word for "shrugging their shoulders".
Given the number of crashes, if someone is seriously injured, I can't see how it would be seen as anything other than the fault of the council.
Posted 10 years ago # -
I SAW ONE!!!!!!!
:-) :-) :-)In the distance, just coming towards Edinburgh Park from The Gyle as my train was pulling out.
Happy now ;-)
I think if you stand by the tracks for more than five minutes now, you're guaranteed to see one. They must be up to normal operating frequency, at least.
Posted 10 years ago # -
I saw only two at lunchtime in about fifteen minutes' exposure to the track, so maybe not quite fully ramped-up yet. I almost shared a road with one this morning when one rolled past in front of me as I waited at the end of Manor Place.
The bells have a rather dolorous sound to them. Is it an actual dingable bell or an electronic simulation thereof?
Posted 10 years ago # -
and made comments - like "try to cross as close to 45 degrees as possible - that could easily be interpreted as whatever the legal word for "shrugging their shoulders".
It's 90 degrees and it's actually impossible to achieve given the layouts, some of which at Haymarket oblige an angle of 20-40 degrees given you are penned in a flow of moving vehicles (dictated by the council's own road markings) and cannot ballroom dance all over the place to satisfy the council's advice.
Posted 10 years ago # -
It's 90 degrees
Oops, I would have been a goner with my 45 degrees! :)
and it's actually impossible to achieve given the layouts
That doesn't surprise me.
I'm avoiding cycling near tram routes after my experiences on Princes St (eastbound) last Autumn, where I concluded you just can't consistently get the angles if you're in traffic.
cannot ballroom dance all over the place to satisfy the council's advice
Good turn of phrase. (And very true.)
Posted 10 years ago # -
When we rode on a tram in Nottingham last christmas we were talking to one of the ticket sellers on the platform. He said they were introducing new trams to suppliment the current fleet but they had to be tested and run in to ensure they operate properly, which meant at off peak times, every few trams was an empty tram. Apparently they have to travel a few thousand miles before they can enter operation. Weird. I'd have thought they were operating them during the night back and forth?
I guess this is what they are doing here, testing the trams and training the drivers.
Posted 10 years ago # -
'…leaving itself open to a slew of injury claims as a result of “lethal” tram tracks at Haymarket.'
While I was pottering home yesterday, I waited outside Haymarket in vain hope of seeing a tram heading out of town. What I did see heading out of town was a motor scooter rider goin' dead canny like at the slant crossing bit and still very nearly coming a cropper.
Posted 10 years ago # -
The Nottingham trams are wonderful - the Hucknall terminal is near my folks' house, and we use it all the time (it drops us off almost exactly outside the theater)- and when I cycle in Nottingham the lines feel far less dodgy to cycle over.
Last time I was visiting I saw the new line being built to the south, with far less fuss than Edinburgh, in a few days they made signifcant distance on the the track bed, but in fairness, Nottingham is a far more open city than Edinburgh, and the lines were being made parallel to most roads, rather than in them, which made things far more simple than the Edinburgh installation.
Maybe the 2053* extension will be less hassle.
(*not to be taken seriously)
Posted 10 years ago # -
We went to Edinburgh today and on our way out we stopped in Hermiston gait. I took the boys to see some trams. Sadly they don't appear to run at the weekend.
Posted 10 years ago # -
@ Arellcat
"...I waited outside Haymarket... What I did see heading out of town was a motor scooter rider goin' dead canny like at the slant crossing bit and still very nearly coming a cropper. "
As if you expect us to believe that! We all know the only people having trouble with the tram lines are idiot lycra louts too stupid to ride properly and those who are deliberately crashing for pre-planned videos!
Posted 10 years ago # -
I believe that for on street tram tracks the road surface is technically the responsibility of the tram operator, and like a level crossing, is covered by H&SAWAct.
This means that there is a duty of care incumbent on the tramway operator to eliminate hazards, or manage the risks that those hazards present. This does not sit well with the tone of the comment "Well, we would like you very much to try and cross the rails at 45 degrees" does not really pass the test of delivering hazard elimination, nor really that of managing the risks.
Further from observations of the quality of surfaces around the embedded rails there are still many places where the track itself, or road features immediately adjacent to the rails, fail to deliver to the officially promoted standards.
It is notable that the substantial settlement in Roe vs Sheffield Supertram & Others, has made Sheffield particularly diligent in ensuring the profile of the tram rail in the road surface does not sit more than 3mm above the tarmac (or concrete).
Perhaps all we can do for the present is to observe and log all reportable incidents appropriately (RIDDOR for crashes that involve a hospital visit and days off work)
In terms of the other type of bike, tram tracks as bad as some parts of the Edinburgh network I've seem will drop some substantial lumps of metal travelling at up to 30mph, and depending on how the rider can abandon the bike will have the potential, for individuals being hurt or the bike hitting other road users.
Posted 10 years ago #
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