Luas / Car crash

Terrontress

I am led to believe that in the past few hours that there has been some form of what appears to be a collision between a Luas and what was described as a car.

It was put to me as happening in the region of Blackhall Place and there have been hospitalisations from both the tram and the car although not too many in total.

penexpers

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/1219/breaking26.html

Three people were taken to hospital this afternoon after a collision between a car and a Luas tram in Dublin city centre.

The incident happened on the Luas red line at about 1.30pm, at the junction of Blackhall Place and Benburb Street.

A spokeswoman for Luas said the car hit the front of the tram. The tram driver, a passenger and the motorist were taken to hospital for precautionary reasons, she said, but did not sustain serious injuries.

Luas services on the line, which runs from the city centre to Tallaght, were curtailed for about 40 minutes, before normal services resumed. The scene of the incident was also closed off to traffic until the car was removed from the scene.

CIE

Terrontress wrote: »

I am led to believe that in the past few hours that there has been some form of what appears to be a collision between a Luas and what was described as a car.

It was put to me as happening in the region of Blackhall Place and there have been hospitalisations from both the tram and the car although not too many in total.

As pretty as tramways are, they have severe disadvantages such as this. Underground tram lines were among the first types of underground railways in cities, avoidance of road accidents being one of the many reasons, including circumventing street congestion and not being limited to the speed limits of city streets.

Judgement Day

CIE wrote: »

As pretty as tramways are, they have severe disadvantages such as this. Underground tram lines were among the first types of underground railways in cities, avoidance of road accidents being one of the many reasons, including circumventing street congestion and not being limited to the speed limits of city streets.

You might as well apply the same to buses? Undoubtedly the route of the Red Line within the City Centre is something of a nightmare but not the basis for having an underground route instead.

CIE

Judgement Day wrote: »

You might as well apply the same to buses?

No, because those are road vehicles. They have steering columns. Whereas they can steer out of the way of errant traffic, a rail vehicle on a tramway cannot. Remember when the route 16 bus hit the Luas at the O'Connell Street "level crossing"?

Judgement Day wrote: »

Undoubtedly the route of the Red Line within the City Centre is something of a nightmare but not the basis for having an underground route instead

It absolutely is the basis. Underground tram lines came about because of this very difficulty. They continue to present the advantages they were built to exhibit, even over a century after the first ones were built.

(Sorry about the image display from before; trying to tidy up.)

Terrontress

I believe that there has been a shift towards prioritising public transport over private. Putting trams underground must have been to stop it interfering with cars. Nowadays a tram frustrating the progress of cars is seen as a good thing.

Mec-a-nic

penexpers wrote: »

A spokeswoman for Luas said the car hit the front of the tram. The tram driver, a passenger and the motorist were taken to hospital for precautionary reasons, she said, but did not sustain serious injuries.

I passed the spot about 10mins after the incident (just before DFB cut the roof off the car to get the driver out safely). Relatively low speed collision judging by the distance the car moved after getting t-boned. Low sun directly onto traffic lights and/or driver inattention may have been a factor.

As serious as it was, it was still a better outcome for all than the single or multiple car incidents at higher speed that do not get reported.