The above has a stupid extra sentence, "A similar story to Edinburgh's and many cities." but the editing function is mucking me about, and I've given up on it.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » General Edinburgh
Tram latest
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Posted 5 years ago #
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There is also scope for solar trams in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Nottingham, London and Manchester, according to the team.
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Posted 5 years ago # -
@chdot: From the article: "The solar breakthrough comes as Network Rail plans to spend billions of pounds electrifying rail lines to avoid running trains on diesel."
Er...the author seems to be unaware of or glossing over the fact that both the GWR and the Midland Mainline electrification schemes have been truncated due to cost overruns. GWR is having to run bi-mode i.e. switchable between electric and diesel trains because of this (although if the wires ever do go all the way then the diesel engines & generator sets can be removed).
The new mainline railways being built i.e. Crossrail & HS2 (if it goes ahead) are going to be electric from the get-go, because it's the only sensible way to do railways like that these days.
A view often expressed is that dieselisation of the railways in the UK was only ever meant to be a stop-gap between the end of steam, and electrification of the full network. I'm not sure how much historical evidence exists to support that. Getting rid of steam was pretty certainly seen as a good thing in itself because of the operational cost savings (steam engines take a lot of manual labour to keep running).
What is rather more widely agreed is that BR's 'modernisation' programme was botched, with fleets of new diesel locomotives being ordered before the prototype and testing phases had been properly completed, meaning that many early BR diesels were scrapped long before they reached the end of their projected economic life. The 1962 Transport Act, and Beeching's rationalisation plans, also meant that many of the early diesel types - which had been specified to be direct replacements for existing steam locomotives - were no longer required because the traffic the steam engines used to work (such as wagon load freight) was disappearing.
Other European countries - Germany being one, as I understand it - retained steam traction on certain lines for a lot longer than the UK did, going straight to electric when the time came to change (e.g. when money became available).
Posted 5 years ago # -
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TRAM bosses are scrapping a minimum spend to buy tickets with card payments after "listening to customer feedback".
Currently, passengers wishing to buy tickets for Edinburgh Trams without cash have to spend at least £3 - while single tickets cost just £1.70. But trams chiefs have confirmed they will bin the minimum card spend from next month.
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Posted 5 years ago # -
One of my customers couldn't believe that his card would not work to do single journey back into town from Haymarket.
He ended up walking. Didn't have change for bus and I mistakenly had told him he could buy a single fare at machine on platform.
It's a change for the good as was a totally daft restriction.Posted 5 years ago # -
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In a report to councillors, officials warned that closing Princes Street would mean tram services were stopped – costing the authority around £15,000 in damages, as well as “a large impact on how people can travel to and from Waverley Station and would lead to subsequent disruption to rail services”.“
Posted 5 years ago # -
It all sounds quite sensational and clearly the consultants shouldn't have acted like that. But the concept that external actors may cause damage to your home is surely not particularly unusual and a risk we all implicitly accept by not living in an uninhabited desert.
I wonder if the tram project is more likely to cause damage to people's homes directly through construction or by a delivery truck being driven off the road and slamming into someone's wall.
Posted 5 years ago # -
The construction process I'm not in a position to comment on, but with 70-tonne trams passing within 12 feet of a domestic dwelling every few minutes, I suspect it's probably more a case of 'when' and 'how much' damage rather than 'if'. If they get lucky, it will just be the plasterwork.
Posted 5 years ago # -
The rails were meant to be set in rubber boots outside the Royal Scottish Academy to avoid shaking sculptures off their plinths. Got canned for cost reasons.
You can feel North Bridge shake when a bus goes past.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Trams in Lisboa go through some people's houses (slight lie)
Posted 5 years ago # -
Trams run pretty close to residences through Haymarket, has there been any evidence of damage there?
I'm clearly not an engineer but surely the big risk is over once construction is finished. The weight of a tram is spread over many wheels and onto a track which is designed to spread the load. Surely a fully laden HGV (or, as IWRATS points out, a bus) thundering over a pothole is worse?
Posted 5 years ago # -
The tram axle load is pretty low but I believe the vibration comes from the metal wheels on metal rails, and the speed will be a factor too. The end result will largely depend on the level of damping of the rails.
Posted 5 years ago # -
@gembo - Just been to Lisboa... where? I was mightily impressed at the hills they went up.... including standing starts on said hills. Mind you they were small but fully functional public transport devices. Even the "big trams" looked designed for purpose. Impressed by Lisbon's segragated cycle lanes too.... only Edinburgh appatently can't do them!
Posted 5 years ago # -
@twinspark, many moons ago I went from central Lisbon to Estadio da Luz on the underground for 17 escudos
Portuguese trains were also fabulous, out to Sintra or south to Faro or north to Porto
Also the outdoor lift built by Eiffel
Big fan of the Portugeuse
The navy joined in their revolution on the left after the dictator Salazar was taken out by his deckchair
Posted 5 years ago # -
If you're on pavement near a braking or turning tram, you will certainly be aware of the vibrations they generate
Posted 5 years ago # -
Bratislava has a wonderful 15th Century cathedral. Unfortunately, it also has a 20th Century motorway within metres of the door and is being shaken to bits by the traffic.
Posted 5 years ago # -
The vibration from idling buses outside used to rattle the window shutters in my flat. I suppose trams would have gone past it too for a while in its early life. But fortunately it has yet to fall down!
Posted 5 years ago # -
@gembo, In London the trains go directly under the foundations of houses. You can lie in bed and tell if they are running on time before you even get up in the morning.
Posted 5 years ago # -
The navy joined in their revolution on the left after the dictator Salazar was taken out by his deckchair
I went to check if that's true on Wikipedia and found another interesting factoid:
In February 2009 though, there were anonymous witnesses who admitted, after some investigation into Salazar's best-kept secrets, that he had fallen in a bath instead of from a chair. As he was expected to die shortly after his fall, President Américo Tomás replaced him with Marcelo Caetano. Despite the injury, Salazar lived for a further two years. When he unexpectedly recovered lucidity, his intimates did not tell him he had been removed from power, instead allowing him to "rule" in privacy until his death in July 1970.
I can think of several other world leaders who should "rule" like that. :-)Posted 5 years ago # -
Posted 5 years ago #
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@MV, thanks for update, while since I read Salazar’s Deckchsir
Posted 5 years ago # -
his intimates did not tell him he had been removed from power, instead allowing him to "rule" in privacy until his death in July 1970
I am now concerned that I have been in a coma and everyone is humouring me by allowing me to pretend to be an office worker. It would explain a lot.
Posted 5 years ago # -
@IWRATS, check out our other favourite example of this with the Royal Mile literature quoting winter vest wearing muscle man (Bannerman's gym every morning 7 am). Delusional with moments of lucidity (in yer e-mail elsewhere)
Posted 5 years ago # -
A cyclist's fallen on to tram tracks in Edinburgh. An off-duty doctor helped the 40 year old at the scene until emergency services arrived. No service on trams between Haymarket and York Place. #CapitalReports
https://twitter.com/capitalscotnews/status/1190329474367311873?s=21
Posted 5 years ago # -
No clear reports/locus on Friday's on-street cyclist crash? Presumably East of Shandwick Place, unless a system of turning trams at Haymarket (rather than terminating at Murrayfield and using the siding at Haymarket Yards has been worked out.
Also seems that Scotsman report on 2014 crash between tram & cyclist has been taken down on-line - curiously there was no mention of this crash in the report on Saughton fatality. Odd as the cyclist was taken to hospital. Has anyone got another record of this?
Another detail not listed in the Saughton Report was the fatal collision between a cyclist and tram in Croydon (Morden Hall Park) where the cycle route had been changed but the crossing had not been re-assessed for risk - an identical situation to the crossing at Saughton, where the signal controlled crossing of the busway became an uncontrolled crossing of the tram tracks with raised speed limits. Hence the redesign (perhaps with no thought for accessibility?) of the 7 crossings between Balgreen and Gyle. But no mention of crossings at tram stops - a detail discussed in the report on Sandilands, which prompted the installation of under-run infill at all crossing points on Croydon and Blackpool systems
There also seems to be no reporting of a collision between a cyclist and tram near Edinburgh Park in September this year, where the tram stopped and the driver and cyclist exchanged details. If you know anything more about this PM me.
Posted 5 years ago # -
Posted 5 years ago #
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Typical of the EEN to highlight the knee-jerk tram hater rather than any of the positive responses. Balanced reporting, what's that?
Posted 5 years ago # -
Trams, cyclists and students bad. Cars good.
Easy?
Posted 5 years ago #
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