Alot of Luas Accidents

veryangryman

Seems to happen quite often given the few lines we have. Is there a case for grade seperation throughout the line (or at least improving it as much as can be done)

Allinall

veryangryman wrote: »

Seems to happen quite often given the few lines we have. Is there a case for grade seperation throughout the line (or at least improving it as much as can be done)

A mandatory driving ban for whoever is found to be at fault- be it the LUAS driver or otherwise.

How someone can crash into a big ****ing train beggars belief.

Del.Monte

It's on the the stretches of on-street running that there is the problem and grade separation would be completely impractical.

magicbastarder

do we know how many there are?

RobbingBandit

Accident blackspots is a more accurate assumption, often around queen street, Harcourt street and abbey street onto o'connell street.

amcalester

Seemed to be one this morning just before Cheeverstown Luas station. Empty Luas and a Luton van stopped on the Tallaght side of the tracks with gardai present as well, couldn't see any damage to either the Luas or the van but there were a lot of gardai present but no other emergency services so it may have been something else.

LXFlyer

veryangryman wrote: »

Seems to happen quite often given the few lines we have. Is there a case for grade seperation throughout the line (or at least improving it as much as can be done)

How could that even be remotely possible in the city centre or indeed the other locations?

veryangryman

lxflyer wrote: »

How could that even be remotely possible in the city centre or indeed the other locations?

Tunnel maybe? Not impossible. Would speed it up for sure

https://www.google.ie/search?q=sheffield+tram+tunnel&oq=sheffield+tram+tunnel&aqs=chrome..69i57.3847j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Xterminator

cost maybe?

LXFlyer

veryangryman wrote: »

Tunnel maybe? Not impossible. Would speed it up for sure

https://www.google.ie/search?q=sheffield+tram+tunnel&oq=sheffield+tram+tunnel&aqs=chrome..69i57.3847j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

We have just spent millions building another on-street LUAS line through the city centre in case you have not noticed.

The notion of ripping up all of the LUAS lines through the city centre and replacing them with tunnels is fanciful to say the least.

The only underground lines in Dublin that have any hope of being built and even they are still not going anywhere.

What needs to happen is drivers being punished for breaking red lights and also for driving habits to improve.

Markcheese

Red Light cameras??
You don't jump the lights if you think you'll get a ticket!
Won't stop someone side swipeing a tram but it's a fairly low cost start

Chivito550

lxflyer wrote: »

We have just spent millions building another on-street LUAS line through the city centre in case you have not noticed.

The notion of ripping up all of the LUAS lines through the city centre and replacing them with tunnels is fanciful to say the least.

The only underground lines in Dublin that have any hope of being built and even they are still not going anywhere.

What needs to happen is drivers being punished for breaking red lights and also for driving habits to improve.

LUAS should have gone underground inside the canals from the very start, back in 2004. What a silly decision it was not to do this.

LXFlyer

Chivito550 wrote: »

LUAS should have gone underground inside the canals from the very start, back in 2004. What a silly decision it was not to do this.

I'm not aware of too many tram systems that are underground being honest.

But that doesn't excuse the fact that DART Underground and Metro North are back at the drawing board stage again, and are years away, nor is anyone talking about any form of underground rail transport between the two LUAS lines , the one area of south Dublin where an underground line is needed.

But we are where we are and saying we should have had this and that ages ago is not going to solve the problem.

Roadhawk

Chivito550 wrote: »

LUAS should have gone underground inside the canals from the very start, back in 2004. What a silly decision it was not to do this.

I agree, there should never have been a surface level track laid in Dublin where road space is scarce and precious. What Dublin needed was an underground rail system which would have allowed for further space to be allocated to Buses, cars, cyclists and pedestrians alike. There also would have been significantly less junctions that are currently increasing the natural order of traffic and causing significant traffic delays for all.

Chivito550

lxflyer wrote: »

I'm not aware of too many tram systems that are underground being honest.

But that doesn't excuse the fact that DART Underground and Metro North are back at the drawing board stage again, and are years away, nor is anyone talking about any form of underground rail transport between the two LUAS lines , the one area of south Dublin where an underground line is needed.

But we are where we are and saying we should have had this and that ages ago is not going to solve the problem.

Cologne has a very extensive underground tram system. Some routes go underground in the city centre, some stay overground. Found it an excellent system and so easy to get around.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cologne_Stadtbahn

HivemindXX

Chivito550 wrote: »

Cologne has a very extensive underground tram system. Some routes go underground in the city centre, some stay overground. Found it an excellent system and so easy to get around.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cologne_Stadtbahn

Seattle has an underground bus tunnel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_Seattle_Transit_Tunnel

LXFlyer

Chivito550 wrote: »

Cologne has a very extensive underground tram system. Some routes go underground in the city centre, some stay overground. Found it an excellent system and so easy to get around.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cologne_Stadtbahn

All well and good, but it doesn't change the fact that the two lines are already built and are already overground. Complaining about the LUAS being above ground now is a bit late in the day as the lines are in situ and that is not going to change.

We can all deal in "what-iffery" but it is rather pointless at this point.

Perhaps start lobbying politicians for real long term improvement in public transport infrastructure going forward rather than constantly saying we should have done this or that - until people start doing that we are going to be stuck in the same short-term window with no proper investment.

...And Justice

Roadhawk wrote: »

I agree, there should never have been a surface level track laid in Dublin where road space is scarce and precious. What Dublin needed was an underground rail system which would have allowed for further space to be allocated to Buses, cars, cyclists and pedestrians alike. There also would have been significantly less junctions that are currently increasing the natural order of traffic and causing significant traffic delays for all.

Didn't the Japanese offer to do a metro system before the luas was built?

I love Sean nos

Roadhawk wrote: »

What Dublin needed was an underground rail system which would have allowed for further space to be allocated to Buses, cars, cyclists and pedestrians alike.

Dublin didn't and still doesn't need more road space allocated to cars. It needs less.

Chivito550

lxflyer wrote: »

All well and good, but it doesn't change the fact that the two lines are already built and are already overground. Complaining about the LUAS being above ground now is a bit late in the day as the lines are in situ and that is not going to change.

We can all deal in "what-iffery" but it is rather pointless at this point.

Perhaps start lobbying politicians for real long term improvement in public transport infrastructure going forward rather than constantly saying we should have done this or that - until people start doing that we are going to be stuck in the same short-term window with no proper investment.

To be fair, I'm constantly at Shane Ross on social media. He tends to hide negative comments from his Facebook posts though.

Would be happy to be part of something more concrete though if there was a group of us on this forum looking to do so. Power by numbers and all that.

Del.Monte

You're wasting your time with Shane Ross as he'll be gone shortly and is only interested in Stepaside Garda station.

Nermal

lxflyer wrote: »

How could that even be remotely possible in the city centre or indeed the other locations?

It doesn't have to be everywhere. Identify the junctions where the crashes occur, and re-route everything other than buses to stop them crossing the tracks.

ED E

Nermal wrote: »

It doesn't have to be everywhere. Identify the junctions where the crashes occur, and re-route everything other than buses to stop them crossing the tracks.

Cause that'll fix it....

magicbastarder

Del.Monte wrote: »

You're wasting your time with Shane Ross as he'll be gone shortly and is only interested in Stepaside Garda station.

that's deeply unfair. he's also interested in judicial appointments.

Chivito550

magicbastarder wrote: »

that's deeply unfair. he's also interested in judicial appointments.

And free trips and handy accreditation to the Olympic Games despite knowing less about any of the sports than I do about knitting,

howiya

magicbastarder wrote: »

that's deeply unfair. he's also interested in judicial appointments.

He really struggled to come up with three achievements since he's taken office in an interview on rte radio yesterday. Judicial appointments being one of them even though it's not in his brief

Banjoxed

veryangryman wrote: »

Seems to happen quite often given the few lines we have. Is there a case for grade seperation throughout the line (or at least improving it as much as can be done)

No.

It's not as if the tram jumps off the tracks, or breaks signals, and randomly hits cars.

n97 mini

lxflyer wrote: »

I'm not aware of too many tram systems that are underground being honest.

There are loads: Brussels is the nearest obvious one that I can think of.

Seattle does it better again. Buses share the underground tunnels and stations there. I was amazed when I first saw it and thought, what a bloody good idea!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSWc2l4qTbs

Banjoxed

n97 mini wrote: »

There are loads: Brussels is the nearest obvious one that I can think of.

Seattle does it better again. Buses share the underground tunnels and stations there. I was amazed when I first saw it and thought, what a bloody good idea!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSWc2l4qTbs

Brussels constructed the tunnels as a "pre metro" and then realized that on-street running was still a good idea - and built a separate metro. Meanwhile, Dublin is still stuck in navel-gazing mode with the metro and DART underground perpetually in the public transport version of development hell..

wordofwarning

Chivito550 wrote: »

LUAS should have gone underground inside the canals from the very start, back in 2004. What a silly decision it was not to do this.

I agree. But I think if it was supposed to go underground we would be consultation stage 7 now with a view to having it started in 2025. Having it above ground was a cheaper option and made it easier to justify to TDs who only seemed to be concerned about the next €500m bypass to make some town of 5k people better to live in

Most of the Green line is no where near cars. A lot of the red line goes down streets that are not ideal for driving on anyway.

People keep crashing into the Luas as our traffic laws are not strict enough. Breaking a red light at a level crossing or the Luas should be a fine of 15% of your yearly income and an immediate 5 year suspension of your license.

The DART has level crossing with lights, a barrier and people still try to go through it. The penalty of 2 penalty points and an €80 fine for breaking a level crossing is a joke

http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/motors/video-the-level-crossing-crashes-that-halt-your-commute-1.2401876

A €80 fine and 2 penalty points for breaking a light at the Luas is worth the risk for most people. Would a fine of a few thousand and a suspended license be?

n97 mini

Banjoxed wrote: »

Brussels constructed the tunnels as a "pre metro" and then realized that on-street running was still a good idea - and built a separate metro. Meanwhile, Dublin is still stuck in navel-gazing mode with the metro and DART underground perpetually in the public transport version of development hell..

The odd thing in Brussels is that they are trams, and you can walk across the track etc. It's a necessity in some stations.

Kitsunegari

One thing I can't understand is why DCC won't set up ANPR cameras at junctions along the luas.

magicbastarder

whose responsibility would it be though? DCC are not a prosecuting authority, so would it be them, the gardai, or the DOT who would have to spearhead that initiative?

ED E

Kitsunegari wrote: »

One thing I can't understand is why DCC won't set up ANPR cameras at junctions along the luas.

Why do Gardai stand at College Green ever day? They've ANPR in their cars, easy to mount on a pole.


My belief is AGS dont want to lose the OT they gain from doing the job of a camera, thus we've never seen red light/bus lane/bus gate cameras come into service.

blackwhite

Markcheese wrote: »

Red Light cameras??
You don't jump the lights if you think you'll get a ticket!
Won't stop someone side swipeing a tram but it's a fairly low cost start

They put red light cameras at Sydney Parade crossing (with plenty of signage as well!), and I still see morons running the lights there most days.

I'm not sure which is worse - their willingness to take a risk with a train, or their lack of observation that they've missed the signs warning of cameras!!