Luas falling to bits??

Shutuplaura

It kind of looks that way to me. I'm only talking about the green line from Charlemont into Stephens Green where it runs over the road. I've noticed Blocks of wood (!) being used to support the line, and what seemed to be a large heavy blog wedged between the wall and the side of the rail line, seeming to hold it in place. This is where the line runs behind the Hilton and desends to street level. Also, the trams tend to slow down for no apparent reason in certain places on the line - Just before the green it always stops short. Am I being a paranoid fool? Can the laus already be falling into disrepair?

Maskhadov

sure it is. Light rail sucks. I think LUAS will need a major refit soon.

spacetweek

Maskhadov wrote:

sure it is. Light rail sucks. I think LUAS will need a major refit soon.

Presume you're joking.

Shutuplaura, everything you've said is just speculation. In the case of the Green, it stops short so they can wait for the signal to be reconfigured.

enterprise

Shutuplaura wrote:

It kind of looks that way to me. I'm only talking about the green line from Charlemont into Stephens Green where it runs over the road. I've noticed Blocks of wood (!) being used to support the line, and what seemed to be a large heavy blog wedged between the wall and the side of the rail line, seeming to hold it in place. This is where the line runs behind the Hilton and desends to street level. Also, the trams tend to slow down for no apparent reason in certain places on the line - Just before the green it always stops short. Am I being a paranoid fool? Can the laus already be falling into disrepair?

There is presently work being carried out on the line between Charlemount Stop and St. Peters Place - this is part of the repair work to the defective track which was highlighted in the media earlier in the year. There is presently a 15KPH Temp Speed Restriction in place while the work is being carried out.

The reason the tram stops before St. Stephens Green is so the driver can change the points. The tram stops over a transponder loop - the driver presses a button in his cab and the points switch position

There is also work on the track been carried out between Red Cow and Tallaght.

Red Alert

^^ exactly right. see for yourself if you like - there are two arrow buttons just above the turn signal indicators. the driver will press one of them when he has stopped. however the obvious question is why doesn't the system choose the correct platform automatically...

technically a lot of the kinks in the LUAS have been ironed out. there are still a few really troublesome signals, such as Beechwood Outbound and Milltown Outbound. Absolutely no reason for the tram to have to come to a complete stop at either of them.

the real problem with the LUAS recently is the degree of thuggish behaviour on the late night ones.

BrianD

They also have a rule that there can only be one tram in the cross hatched area at Stephens Green (note local sign). So the incoming tram must stop before the crossover in case the oubound tram has started to move. This seems to be a proceedure brought in after the collision a year or so ago. It probably also ensures that the cross over points have fully changed before the tram traverses them preventing a de-railment.

A Dub in Glasgo

There you go, you learn something new everyday. In my heavy rail experience the following happens

1. Signaller sets the route
2. The signalling system checks it is a valid route and instructs the signalling equipment to a certain state depending on the status of the railway at that time.
3. At a junction, the signalling system checks the track is clear to the next signal section, throws the points, locks them, detects that they are locked, then displays a proceed aspect on the signal.

As for the Luas driver pressing buttons to choose a route... why? It should be very easy for the route to be set for him

BrianD

Is that not the nature of light rail...

In Melbourne, on some routes the tram driver has to change the points manually by jumping out of the cabin with a metal bar and inserting it into a wayside box!

Shutuplaura

I'm not knocking the luas, I think its great but the track coming down from Charlemont stop is being supported by blocks of wood - no speculation, merely observation. As for the stop before Stephens Green - I suppose safety is an oobvious factor I realise it can't come thundering down the last strreach of track. I just assumed that the changing of the track was done a computer control system not by the driver. Thanks for that info though!

mollser

<thread hijack alert>

On the subject of luas, does anyone know the status of the extension to Cherrywood? The ministerial order was signed about a month ago but since nothing. Have they yet to select contractors are what??

Alun

Shutuplaura wrote:

I'm not knocking the luas, I think its great but the track coming down from Charlemont stop is being supported by blocks of wood - no speculation, merely observation.

You say that like it's a bad thing. Wood is a remarkably strong material when used in the right situations with just the right amount of flex and compressibility. Railways have been successfully built on wooden supports (sleepers) for years, and in the pacific US there are still examples of wooden rail bridges to be seen.

Anyway, as pointed out, there are repairs currently being undertaken on that stretch of track to remedy defects detected earlier in the year, so I don't think the use of emotive phrases like "falling to bits" are entirely appropriate.

Red Alert

the metal pole you see hanging up in the cab on the left is for changing the emergency crossover points