Crossings
One of the biggest “shocks” I have had since arriving in the US is the state and design of railways lines.
Firtsly they still use wooden rail sleepers that are, for the most part, falling to pieces so badly that the line would be shut down if it was in most parts of the world; the older ones (if they haven’t already disintigtrated) are holding the rails onto the posts using metal spikes that are hammered onto the sleeper, assuming they haven’t been shaken out by the passing trains. Worst still, if the sleepers are being replaces then they are being replaced using yet more wooden sleepers and not concrete ones. I am sure there is a good reason for this (at least I am hoping there is), but it is not something you expect to see in the 21st Century.
Secondly, crossings. The way that railways look to have developed is that they will be crossed, frequently, by roads. At one time the practical way of crossing them was to simply build the road across and add in a barrier. There are going to be many problems with this, but two I would observe as being important are holding up the traffic and reducing the speed of the trains.
Some of the freight trains that run are, most often, at least a mile long, some longer; this in itself is very impressive (in fact one of the highlights of the rail system here is that so much freight is moved by rail, quite right too!). However, these trains also take a long time to pass through and so hold up traffic waiting at the crossings, this would also include emergency vehicles. Would it not seem logical for there to be at least one crossing in a town to go under or over the rail line to maintain the flow of traffic.
Having so many crossings also reduces the maximum speed that a train can travel simply because of the hazard they pose; you do not get very many higher speed lines in the world with roads crossing them, it is simply dangerous. So this reduces the maximum speed a passenger train can travel and so inhibits any attempt at introducing rapid speed transport (I would say there needs to be rapid speed trains before you get to high-speed). Given the state of the sleepers this is probably a good thing, I would not like to be travelling along a line at 100mph knowing that half the sleeps holding the rails are falling to pieces.
The problems with crossings can be best illustrated by the following video…
Freight
Today was my first day up close and personal with the BNSF freight line that runs West out of Chicago. These freight trains are massive, especially for someone who has not experienced the sheer size and length of these things it is quite impressive. Then again I am used to high-speed, rapid transport that hasn’t quite made an impact in this part of the world yet; I am also getting used to the idea that they still use wooden railway sleepers (railroad ties), this and the fact that there seems to be endless numbers of rail-crossings probably means that there will not be any high-speed commuter routes any time soon (a simple upgrade of the carriages would be a good start). But at least I can start life here by being impressed by the freight trains.
New DLR units
The Docklands Light Railway will receive new, three car units in time for the Olympics in 2012. The first of these units was unveiled in London by the mayor. There should be a 50% increase in capacity by 2010, with an expansion to the system currently being undertaken.
I guess this is one of those benefits in having the Olympics, you should get a better transport system. At least they have given themselves a two year period to get the capacity and network upgrades working.
New Prague Tram - T15
No word on when the official unveiling or announcement will take place, however, a sketch of the new Skoda tram T15 has been released to illustrate how it should look. Prague has already ordered 250 units, and the emphasis seems to be that it is Czech designed and built. The current T14 trams was designed by Porsche and built by Skoda, whilst distinctive it is not proving to be as popular as had been hoped. Well I like it, although the interior was not arranged well and better use could have been made of the seating arrangements and design.
*Update* ABC Prague has an article covering the exterior and internal artwork - ABC Prague
Looks like Skoda.cz is also letting the public vote on the interior 
Tramway de Nice, France
Originally uploaded by moworld
Nice tramway was opened to the public (I guess last week, Sat 17). It features a fabulous hybrid driving system that runs on overhead lines for most of the route, but in some areas that are historic and culturally sensitive, the tram units switch to NiMH batteries. As the photo shows, there are no overhead power lines on this section - which just makes the Alstom CITADIS tram look even more majestic. If this really does work over time I wonder how many other cities will use this system.
- Le Figaro article (translated using Google)
- Tramway de Nice (WikiPedia)
- NiMH article (Industry Projects)
Long Trams in Ostrava, CZ
The city of Ostrava in the East of Czech Republic is to get the longest tram set in Czech Republic. They are also trying to claim that the tram is a record breaker for being the most powerful (at least this is what the article seems to imply). It has a capacity of carrying 300 people, but is not the most eye-pleasing of designs. Made by the local company Inekon - who also export tram systems to the US - it should be added to the local transportation fleet. No doubt they will be able to gloat over the fact that it will receive less criticism than Prague’s T14.
- News Article
- Tram technical details - Inekon
Prague Tram redesign
Looks like Prague’s Porsche designed trams are going to be tweaked. Whilst they look distinctively awesome and certainly will enhance the tram fleet on Prague’s streets, there are distinct issues with space on the inside and the seating arrangement is somewhat strange. Prague Radio has an article about the redesign. I would fall into the "like them" camp, but would request seating to be removed from the door ways to allow more passenger, pushchair and wheel chair space. Ventilation does need to be improved, but the overall design aesthetics are superb. The older generations may not like the looks (this is a generation who lived with concrete paneled buildings and who generally treated the fabulous architecture with disdain), they can at least get on the trams without having to climb up steep stairs. Just can’t please everyone.
Prague Airport
My first comment will be at least you can easily get to and from the airport. Its not perfect, but then I tried many times with JFK (NY) and can only delight in the relative ease of using the bus getting to Prague’s airport.
Do you need to get from Prague Airport to the center of the city? Currently
you can either wait for a bus or take a taxi and hope you wouldn’t fall
victim to Prague’s notorious taxi drivers. Now it seems that in the
future, traveling from the airport may be quite a different story.
-
Radio.cz
Edinburgh gets trams
One day, people will wonder why there was so much debate about it and how the scheme nearly stalled. At least I hope so. But then based on the experiences of other UK cities that went with the tram systems it is likely. This week (last week actually) the Scottish parliament finally gave the go ahead for the system to be built and work should begin almost immediately. This is only good news for all concerned
Related News:
- Scotsman (opinion)
- The go-ahead
- The Drama
Lack of vision
The plan
To build a tram in the city of Edinburgh linking the city center with the airport
The Problem
- The Scottish Nation Party
- Lack of vision
- Politicians
- Combination of the above
The problem is a very British one. Despite the successes and expansions of existing networks in the UK and all over Europe, local politicians fail to see the benefits citing the building of such schemes as "a waste of money" or of no benefit whatsoever. Of course this argument would be acceptable if cities all over Europe, and the rest of the World, were going the same way as the UK by depending on ever clogged roads and air routes, not to mention ever increasing pollution.
The French City of Bordeaux has had problems deciding where the tram system should go because of competition between the areas of the city to actually have the system go through that part of the city. The benefits are being felt not just by the drop in the number of cars on the roads but also the ease of getting around - around 110,000 passenger journeys daily, just consider the reduction in car use even the number of buses removed from the roads. So how does the Scottish administration envisage a reduction in the number of car/bus/taxi journeys made, by introducing a London style congestion charge? How popular will that be considering there is no viable alternative to get in/out/around the city.
The one hope is that the Green Party taking over the Transport Executive will actually push the scheme onwards, the Green favour the tram system, but not all of it, namely the airport link in its current form. We will see.
