BUSRAGE Discussions » General Issues
LUAS: a review
(9 posts)-
Hi,
I got the chance to travel in and out along the entire Green Line from Sandyford last night, as part of a group of local residents and invited guests.
Here are my thoughts, good and bad.
Firstly, the timings: we stopped at every stop and waited as a service tram would have had to.
The time from doors closing at Sandyford to doors opening at Stephens Green was 20 mins and 30 seconds, which included a 2 minute delay approaching the Green while waiting for some workers to clear from the track ahead of us.
I was very impressed with the speed and smoothness - the only time any vibration was felt was negociating the tight turns at Adelaide Road and Harcourt Street.
The acceleration was the most impressive feature - because you were on something on rails, you expected it to slowly crawl away from the station and gradually gather speed - but these things reach full speed in under 10 seconds, and seem to only take a couple of minutes between stops - I'd say that half of the 20 mins time taken was spent actually paused at stops.
The information displays in the tram give next stop, and connecting bus routes. The overall atmosphere was very pleasent - it felt to modern, and too nice to be part of Dublin!
On the minus side, the amount of tagging and vandalism along the line is truly sickening - and bear is mind this is the line that goes through the better territory of the two!
Speed is significantly slower onthe street sections - this makes me wonder about the Red Line, with it's very long street-running and lots of complex junctions - I can imagine it will not seem nearly as impressive as the green Line.
Overall, a positive experience.
It's not going to solve the traffic problem for the whole of Dublin, but it will make a significant difference, and improve the quality of life (shorter commute thus more free time) for the people in its catchment area.
There is *one* thing that it will do for Dublin transport overall - it will be a wake-up call to the public, and lead to demands for MORE rail/LRT based transport.
SoS
[posted by: Steve O'Shea]Posted 4 years ago # -
So...since this was a ride by invitation, you did not get to see fare collection in action? IIRC, it is the proof-of-payment (POP) system, where you buy a ticket but you don't know when a fare inspector's going to come along and check it.
How full was your tram? Consultants swear up and down that you can jam as many as three hundred-odd standing passengers into a single vehicle like that...but I would not ride if I saw a tram carrying half as many passengers as that, nor would most of the public I suspect.
Is traffic allowed to drive onto the street-running track reservation on Harcourt Street and St. Stephen's Green West? If so, then that will muck around with timetables and headways; if not, then I see no excuse for the slow street-running, since there are technically no obstacles. Not to mention that before the Luas tracks went in, Harcourt Street traffic was already beyond the point of being utterly miserable.
Why the impression with the acceleration? EMUs can do that just as well as LRVs, to be sure, just so long as the driver knows what he's doing and doesn't pull the slack out too rapidly. Not to mention that if these trams were capable of MU operation, acceleration would not suffer but passenger capacity would increase.
One thing I was concerned about were those doors—is that real glass or some kind of plexiglass on there? because if the system is already having problems with taggers, then rock-throwers are not too far behind.
One big concern is over what form this system will take if it is to be included in this whole DTO "Metro" system. The money's already been spent to configure it as Luas, and all.
Any talk about the possible southern extension to Cherrywood?Posted 4 years ago # -
Al,
I'll try to answer your points in order, in so far as I can.
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"So...since this was a ride by invitation, you did not get to see fare collection in action? IIRC, it is the proof-of-payment (POP) system, where you buy a ticket but you don't know when a fare inspector's going to come along and check it".
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No fares were taken, but they did have someone going round handing out booklets. You are right about it being a POP system. One problem I forsee is unavailability of ticket machines - already several have had their touch-screens smashed by vandals at night, including Stephens Green.
Btw, the 222.luas.ie site has been totally revamped, it is now orientated towards the travelling public, and has most of the information you would need to know about ticketing etc.
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"How full was your tram? Consultants swear up and down that you can jam as many as three hundred-odd standing passengers into a single vehicle like that...but I would not ride if I saw a tram carrying half as many passengers as that, nor would most of the public I suspect".
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About 100 people, so roughly half full.
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"Is traffic allowed to drive onto the street-running track reservation on Harcourt Street and St. Stephen's Green West? If so, then that will muck around with timetables and headways; if not, then I see no excuse for the slow street-running, since there are technically no obstacles".
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Traffic is prohibited from these sections, other than at Peter Place. However, this is Dublin, the city where nobody cares . . .
There were, for some reason, large groups of drunken tourists staggering up harcourt street at the time only 8pm!) so this may have accounted for the slow running.
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Why the impression with the acceleration?
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Just my personal impression, as compared to the DART and the Docklands Light Railway. Honestly, these things really do speed up quickly.
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"One thing I was concerned about were those doors—is that real glass or some kind of plexiglass on there? because if the system is already having problems with taggers, then rock-throwers are not too far behind".
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Don't know. I can forsee rockthrowers, especially on Tallaght line, but also in the currting at Kilmacud, where they will be in a secluded area with lots of escape routes, a good vantage point over the tram, and beyond the range of current CCTV installations.
Also, I'm a little concerned that the platforms at Ranelagh allow you to look directly over at the road underneath - I could see people gathering here late at night to drop objects on buses and cars.
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One big concern is over what form this system will take if it is to be included in this whole DTO "Metro" system. The money's already been spent to configure it as Luas, and all.
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Can't comment, not enough technical knowledge on the subject!
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Any talk about the possible southern extension to Cherrywood?
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Yes, there is talk, and DLR CoCo are levying local builders. No progress on actually getting the go-ahead for construction yet though, unlike the Docklands extension (to the Point) which should start construction next year.
I hope those answers have been of some use to you.
SoS
[posted by: Steve O'Shea]Posted 4 years ago # -
""One thing I was concerned about were those doors�is that real glass or some kind of plexiglass on there?"
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On the Arrow trains (my experience is Maynooth line new green carriages) I believe they have glass. The pane I stood in front of withstood a good sized rock being thrown against it. It seemed to chip it slightly but no sign of the glass giving way in a hurry.
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""Is traffic allowed to drive onto the street-running track reservation on Harcourt Street and St. Stephen's Green West?"
My wife works on Harcourt Road and sees cars blocking Luas where it crosses Adelaide Road.
A Garda positioned there could had out penalty points and fines by the bucket load until people got the message.
Alternately the Luas driver, with all that power in the tram, could nudge the offending car out of the way. *THAT* would learn 'em real quick.Posted 4 years ago # -
will short-hop tickets work on the luas and student bus and rail monthly's etc?
[posted by: pissed off]Posted 4 years ago # -
No. You can purchase a weekly monthly or 30 day luas-bus ticket. There is a planned integrated luas bus and rail ticket planned for september.
[posted by: a2000]Posted 4 years ago # -
and the bets are that it will be more expensive than the usual short hop, already the luas is looking like a crock of s**t and an even bigger rip off than the dart and busses with ¤4 euro park and ride fees its probably cheaper to drive into town still! will this government ever learn????????? why cant we just have one ticket for buses darts and luas and why cant they all be the one company run by dublin city council, sdcoco and dlrcoco, and not cie???
[posted by: pissed off]Posted 4 years ago # -
Because Pissy....There are so many snouts stuck deep into the trough and their bellies need filling.
Try and find out what company will be operating the Luas Park`n Ride franchise and then follow the paper trail.
As you say the crock is certainly not full of Gold but the shyt is still in the making....Posted 4 years ago # -
securicor will operate it
[posted by: a2000]Posted 4 years ago #
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