LUAS

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I would doubt (but it could be true) the story that it is due to the tightness of a curve somewhere on the line.

If there is going to be such a capacity constraining element then surely this would change the economics of the entire project - making trains shorter means it costs more to operate them over a given distance since at peak loadings you are only getting (say) 750 fares per train instead of 1,000.

If there was a constraint that meant that *for ever* you would be carrying a lower number of people than otherwise possible then the logical thing would be to spend more money removing the constraint - either by re-routing or modifying the existing path.

z
 
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The LUAS was designed to the international guage on purpose to make it easier to get trains for it, for example second hand.
Because of our bizarre guage on intercity routes, every single carriage/engine that CIE order has to be speciall ymade. hence the huge lead in time to get new stock. I think they figured that by getting the LUAS on the international guage that they could get around this. Of course what it does mean is that if they ever move to metro that needs to use the LUAS tracks that there are going to be serious issues because you can't use any existing tracks and the LUAS track because of the different guages....and the origin of all this is in fact Brunel. he wanted to make a much bigger guage, there was an existing small guage and they fecking decided instead of going with one or the other to instead meet half way so it suits noone!!!
Additionaly, as well as having an odd guage we also have very low bridge clearance on inter city routes...what this means is that you can't run the double deckers...


here is the one and only interesting thing I reckon Noel O'Flynn has ever said.
[broken link removed]
look for the paragraph starting off with "The reason was that most carts". (Push Ctrl and F to be able to enter the serach text)
 
Re: ..

Of course what it does mean is that if they ever move to metro that needs to use the LUAS tracks that there are going to be serious issues because you can't use any existing tracks and the LUAS track because of the different guages

Regardless of gauge differences, isn't a more obvious problem that Luas/light rail tracks are concave (i.e. a channel in the ground) while metro/rail tracks are convex (i.e. a rail sticking up out of the ground)?!

and the origin of all this is in fact Brunel. he wanted to make a much bigger guage, there was an existing small guage and they fecking decided instead of going with one or the other to instead meet half way so it suits noone!!!

Who's Noone? ;)
 
The standard UK gauge is 4 foot 8 except N Ireland where they use the Irish gauge of 5 foot 3. There are a good few intercity carriages brought over from the UK which only require a bogie change to suite the Irish gauge. Dublin is covered in abandoned trackbeds that could be used for light rail.

Will the proposed metro be a different affair? Trams and Metro don't mix.

Someone said they could run the metro out on the green line but not on the red. Is that why they named it the green line?

I'd imagine you could make up for decreased capacity on the red line by increased frequency Zag?
 
Re: ..

I'd imagine you could make up for decreased capacity on the red line by increased frequency Zag?

I saw two trams on the red line recently literally a few hundred metres apart and running in the same direction. Not sure if this is unusual? Never thought I'd become a train (tram?) spotter! 8o
 
You could increase frequency, but that would increase your labour costs.

It would also increase the interaction with (disruption to) other road traffic.

z
 
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Valid point Zag, but I guess wage costs have nothing to do with the quality of the service expected. Wages have increased but so too has the city and the need to reduce car dependence. The previous Dublin trams ran at a frequency of every 3 to 4 mins. Red line trams are not that frequent. You mean we spend all that money on a transport system and can't run it to greater frequency in case it gets in the way of cars. Whose baby is that?

Clubman if you were wearing an Anorak at the time you most definitely are a part time 'tram spotter'. Where do you get the time?

"saw two trams on the red line recently literally a few hundred metres apart and running in the same direction. "

Its like some sort of disease then. First it infected the buses and now its jumped the divide and crossed over to infect the trams.
 
"travelling in pairs"

Remember as a kid always hearing the adults mention about the 22 bus - just like the nuns always travelled in pairs. Suppose there aren't enough nuns around these days for them to travel in pairs.
 
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Clubman if you were wearing an Anorak at the time you most definitely are a part time 'tram spotter'.

Oddly enough I was - well a parka anyway. :)
 
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"Regardless of gauge differences, isn't a more obvious problem that Luas/light rail tracks are concave (i.e. a channel in the ground) while metro/rail tracks are convex (i.e. a rail sticking up out of the ground)?!"

Clubman, have to disagree. For example, on the way into Limerick and Killarney there are rail lines that cross the main road...rail crossings. In both cases the rail lines are, as you say, Concave!
 
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Of course. I didn't really think that one through and it is obviously something that works ion many level crossings etc. already. Silly me! :eek:
 
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