Where else in the UK could tramways/light rail be installed?

[renegademaster]

As much as I have benefitted from the £2 bus cap, it has made boarding a much slower process as everyone awkwardly asks for single tickets rather than scanning a QR code, plus the wait for everyone that needs to get off first.

I would definitely welcome double doors. I'm not too sure about off-bus ticketing, as I wouldn't want to pay for a bus that isn't guaranteed to arrive. If the £2 bus cap did become permanent, I would like the TFL style of ticketing with a tap-in pad for contactless with a daily fare cap or a local area Oyster card equivalent.

I dont understand why they dont just set the machines to a default payment of £2 a a beep when it goes through successfully, like what London, Birmingham and Manchester do, any other ticket you have to ask for

 

[Trainlog]

I dont understand why they dont just set the machines to a default payment of £2 a a beep when it goes through successfully, like what London, Birmingham and Manchester do, any other ticket you have to ask for

It does come down to the fact that a fair amount of short journeys are still under £2 and it would make those that need them end up paying more than prior to the cap coming in last year. As i say i would definetly welcome just being able to scan a local Oyster equivalent card and get on than stating what part of a town i need to go to, especially if i need to repeat the name of the stop to the driver.

Still, there has been times where the slow boarding has came in handy, especially when i am running late for the bus.

 

[railfan99]

Electric buses are an option, but trams can be more reliable/frequent than buses as they can be placed onto dedicated track lanes without traffic. Also, trams have higher capacity than buses. Also, cities with trams can have 35% of journeys done by tram, so delivers proportionately larger profits so can subsidies unprofitable bus routes, so can increase bus driver pay. But yes, electric buses can get to areas outside the tram's radius so could cooperate with the tram on shared timetables.

As a Melbourne, Australia resident I won't say our tram network is 'best in class' as c.80 per cent of tracks are shared with motor vehicles and other road users (though it's become the largest worldwide after Moscow reduced its route kilometres), meaning slow running times, and stops can sometimes be as close as 200 metres from the previous one, a result of history and failure to close some stops.

It's noticeable in my city that when tram track renewal works occur and trams are replaced by buses that deviate around works, patronage immediately hugely declines, even where there's no nearby railway station with suburban trains as an alternative.

My guess is we have higher car ownership per capita than any British city but even so, trams are used by many. Fare evasion is a problem but that's off topic.

 

[daodao]

@railfan99

Melbourne is unique in being the only city in the Anglosphere (and probably the wider world) of over 1 million that has not developed a metro system (as distinct from a suburban rail network) and has retained its tram system essentially intact. Other large cities of over 1 million that retained a large tram system have generally developed metros that have replaced some of their busiest tram lines.

There are only a handful of cities in Great Britain that don't already have some form of metro/light rail/suburban rail network, and where a new light rail/tram route/network might be appropriate. I mentioned a few places (including Leeds) in post 56 of this thread; Bristol is another city where there might be sufficient demand, but it is difficult to envisage how to build a useful route/network there.

 

[railfan99]

All of the above could have significant stretches of reserved track, which is the key to modern light rail development.

Agree. One of the slowest tram routes in a 'developed' nation I've encountered was in Toronto, Canada: super congested.

In England, I found Nottingham good, even when travelling inbound during a weekday morning peak, but from memory much was on reserved track. Perhaps when shops have opened, the street running is slower.

 

[Thebaz]

Bournemouth conurbation would be a good place for a tram network I reckon.

 

[Swanny200]

For someone living in South Tyneside and all the issues with Metro at the moment I have always favoured some kind of tram system running on the West side of Newcastle, maybe linking in the Metrocentre on the Gateshead side, the tram would link up to an interchange with Metro access, kind of like Heworth currently is, then a separate tram system turning Pelaw into an interchange with the tram line running on the current old leamside alignment to Washington with slight on street working but going no further.

I am also an Aberdonian and always thought that some kind of underground or metro/tram system would be ideal, one line from Dyce/Airport to somewhere like Balnagask/Altens/Cove Bay and an East to West line going from the Beach to somewhere like Mastrick via Hazelhead both lines would interchange at Guild Street for onward travel by train or bus, Aberdeen is big enough that Tram/Metro working would and should work.

And Medway, what can I say about the Medway Towns, OK I was last there 20 years ago but there were so many places crying out for transport links, Gillingham Business Park was one especially and so was the Medway Valley Leisure Park, 2 railway lines either side of the Diggerland site Albeit one is HS2 but there is no station on the Medway Valley Line and when I was there, no bus service, I used to work in the Bingo hall that used to be there and it was a nightmare if you didn't have a car, it always seemed busy but it could have been busier.

The route I would run, would go from Medway Valley Leisure Park, run along possibly beside the current Medway Valley Line through Strood via the station, onto the edge of the city estate, through the tunnel round St Marys Island via the Outlet Centre then along Pier road,to The Asda like previously discussed on this thread along the old Gillingham Dockyard alignment to Gillingham station or potentially on to Yokosuka Way.

In all honesty, doing any system involving crossing the river to encompass Rochester would involve another bridge or tunnel, I like the idea of splitting the lines between Delce Road and City Way, another option may possibly be a loop from Maidstone Road at the Airport end at The Tideway and then along Arethusa Road to link to City Way or even better, running up the Rochester Maidstone Road (B2097) along the M2 side of the airport, onto the roundabout and then down the Chatham Maidstone Road (A229) then City Way, You could have made more of a loop down to the esplanade if the Borstal road Junction from Priestfields wasn't so tight, and Shorts Way has a restriction which would probably not be welcomed by a tram line.

 

[d9009alycidon]

I am also an Aberdonian and always thought that some kind of underground or metro/tram system would be ideal, one line from Dyce/Airport to somewhere like Balnagask/Altens/Cove Bay and an East to West line going from the Beach to somewhere like Mastrick via Hazelhead both lines would interchange at Guild Street for onward travel by train or bus, Aberdeen is big enough that Tram/Metro working would and should work.

Can't see any kind of underground being built in Aberdeen given that most of the city is built on solid granite.

 

[melon68]

Can't see any kind of underground being built in Aberdeen given that most of the city is built on solid granite.

I think modern tunnelling techniques can bore rail tunnels through granite, in any case would Stockholm have a metro constructed into similar bedrock as Aberdeen? I'm sure there are other examples around the world of hard rock being no obstacle

 

[stuu]

Absolutely. Solid rock is easier to tunnel through, not harder. Drill and blast is much cheaper than using a TBM, and often it needs no lining at all. That's how Norway digs tunnels for £10m/km