The jealousy thread

Lord Fairlord

CatInABox wrote: »

In other words, a plan that has zero chance of happening.

Only because of a lack of will, in my opinion. There are other countries don't view land reclamation as that crazy an idea but in Ireland we seem to have an aversion to big projects, even when they would bring substantial benefits.

Zebra3

Land has been reclaimed in Ireland going back a long time.

Idbatterim

there is talk of a tunnel or bridge connecting here and the uk, but they will have electric planes in operation, well before that would ever be a remote possiblity

in relation to reclaimed land, dublin port should reclaim the fifty acres they wanted years ago and consolidate all port activities on the north side. That would allow thousands more homes in the IGBS and on the free'd up land on the south side. Even better, relocate the entire port and house a hundred thousand there!

I just looked at harry crosbie suggestion there for the tolka estuary, if you could house 65,000 there, a few hundred people max lose their sea view... if that and the port were relocatd, you could house maybe 150,000-200,000 extra people?

masses of the employment are in the docklands, with far more planned. most of the sites there left, are under construction. It would make a huge amont of sense, to create a new district on a huge scale in my opinion...

https://www.airbus.com/innovation/future-technology/electric-flight/e-fan-x.html (Airbus hybrid-electric aircraft demonstrator is expected to embark on its first flight in 2021)

dublinman1990

This very light rail project is being built in Coventry in England. It's not a very big train in all honesty.

The video of it below was a showcasing a public demonstration to people around Coventry 3 days ago.

Although if this thing was built in Ireland it's like this will bring us into the 2050's without much effort.

https://youtu.be/Mo9GHi7-Ldg?si=EZZfOT48p3qm4znR

Sam Russell

Coventry VLR? How is it powered? How many passengers does it carry? What is the point of it? Why is it so ugly?

This thread is over 5 years since its last post. And nearly 10 years since its first post.

bk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123513371#Comment_123513371

Battery powered, carries just 50 people! They claim that it doesn’t require as deep tracks as a regular tram, thus saves money on having to move utilities under the road versus a regular tram, thus keeping costs lower (no OHLE either).

They also talk about virtually coupling trams and fully automation, but of course it can’t do that at the moment, it has a driver.

It looks like a gadgetbahn to me, I don’t really see the benefit of it versus a regular EV double decker carrying 80 people.

EDIT: Yes apparently it is the track construction technique is the bit they think is a big deal here. But f it can't handle bigger trams, I wouldn't really see the point.

PlatformNine

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123513671#Comment_123513671

The Council website says it hold 56 people, but still that is just so small. For reference the Enviro200EVs are supposed to have capacity for 72, and an Enviro100EV (which I don't think anyone in Ireland uses yet?) holds 45.

Looking through some of the articles from Coventry County Council themselves it really does seem to just be about the track more than anything else. I agree the vehicles seem to just be gadgetbahn.

If the system instead used actual multicar vehicles (not virtual coupling gadgetbahn) maybe 2-3 cars long with a capacity of ~120 or ~190 (assuming no intermediete driving compartments), I think it could have more potential. However I struggle to see this being a solution for any of our cities, where I think more conventional trams or LRTs are better suited. Rather I could see this as an option for some of our largest towns, both as a higher capacity town service and as a way to better feed commuters into train stations.

However this entirely depends on how how much cheaper it actually is than conventional tramways. Some numbers I am seeing online are ~£10m/km, however I don't think we will get a more accurate number until the first line is complete. Eitherway that number doesn't give me high hopes, as while I believe that is much cheaper than a comprable tram line, I am not sure that it is still cheap enough to pass a CBA against high frequency bus services.

Sam Russell

It might work as a shuttle service for P&R to town centre, for example, in Galway City for 4 or 5 km like from Salthill, or from Renmore, or maybe Barna or Oranmore which would be a bit over 7 km.

If it was automated, it might be worth it, but it is a bit Mickey Mouse - like the electric cars of the 1970s. Regular Luas would be better.

Or even the Dockland Light Railway in London - which uses third rail, and the trains are automated and light.