Commuter trains

joolsveer

Why can't we have double decker trains in the Dublin area where you can take your bike on the train with you? I know they have them in Berlin but this was in Santa Clara.

Cookie_Monster

enormous cost to buy, capacity not really needed, bridges too low, wires to low, tunnels too low, possible weight issues, new maintenance facilities/equipment/training required, union issues no doubt.

lemansky

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

enormous cost to buy, capacity not really needed, bridges too low, wires to low, tunnels too low, possible weight issues, new maintenance facilities/equipment/training required, union issues no doubt.

And that is only the tip of the iceberg i'm sure!

dowlingm

Doubledeck trains are common in North America because much of the track is already cleared for doublestack container traffic. This usually means train heights are only a problem when catenary electrification is being rolled out.

GO Transit bilevel (pushpull trailer)
• Seating capacity: up to 162 passengers
• Seating available on upper and lower levels, as well as middle “mezzanine” level at each end of railcar
• Length: 25.9 m (85 ft)
• Width: 3.0 m (9 ft 10 in)
• Height: 4.85 m (15 ft 11 in)
• Weight (empty): 49 tons (109,000 lb)
• Up to four bicycles can be accommodated on each railcar, outside of rush hour

Montreal and New Jersey are ordering 14'6" multilevels due to tunnel height restrictions. I had hoped that with the KRP we would see the start of bridge heights being raised to eventually allow doubledeckers but I think they bottled that.

Edit to note: an Irish Rail 201, if fitted with a HEP generator, could pull 10 bilevels at commuter rail speed. The same 3000hp engine family (710 V12) powers GO's F59PH locos. These are being phased out in favour of 4000hp MP40s which pull 12 bilevels.

Run_to_da_hills

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

enormous cost to buy, capacity not really needed, bridges too low, wires to low, tunnels too low, possible weight issues, new maintenance facilities/equipment/training required, union issues no doubt.

Biggest issue of the lot = Unions.

Alt_Grrr

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

enormous cost to buy, capacity not really needed, bridges too low, wires to low, tunnels too low, possible weight issues, new maintenance facilities/equipment/training required, union issues no doubt.

Of course if you ask Irish rail about this,
none of these would be the major issues that they would use to knock it on the head....

Ciaranpm

Driving a double decker train would be deemed twice the work by Irish Rail staff!!

steamengine

I have a hunch that if trains were invented in this century, we would be travelling around in double deck spam cans with the same internal dimensions as buses. Luckily the standard gauge carriages were invented in the 19th century in an era when internal space wasn't a limiting factor regarding design. Victorians liked airiness, room to move freely around and this was reflected in the grander houses and passenger ships of the period also.

The carriage of bikes on trains isn't rocket science and could be sorted if IE put their mind to it IMO. Take a few seats out on a Dart carriage and install bike racks.

dowlingm

Did IE staff take a paycut when going from 7xMk3 to 6x22K? ( or 3? :eek: )