New metro plans - Suspension Rail

hobochris

I was in Germany a few weeks back and very impressed with their public transport network, I know they are talking about a partial underground for dublin, but why not build something like the H-bahn( suspended railway) instead.

https://youtu.be/HQH4TS01Jt4

It seems it would be ideal given our limited space and reluctance to dig a full underground system like that of other European cities.

L1011

Cost, practicality and that it'd never get past ABP.

Elevated systems worked when the road space competition was horses but doesn't when it's larger motorised vehicles as the support pillars get in the way

salmocab

It’s ugly as hell, nobody wants to see that going down the road outside their house.

Bray Head

It's noisy as well as ugly.

It would actually need lots of CPO and demolition too. Dublin doesnt have straight, wide boulevards.

The planners would never let it happen.

There is only one thing worth talking about: Metrolink.

goingnowhere

And its plain scary to ride on as it rocks from side to side to a quite alarming level

murphaph

It's just a curiosity really. Only Wuppertal has such a (limited) system. It would be much more expensive than tunneling.

CatInABox

An Taisce have a massive hissy fit any time someone even dares to suggest that they want to build a tall building within eyesight of any section of the "Georgian Core" of Dublin, suggesting this thing would have them marching through the streets, throwing their monocles and pocket watches in the air.

Del.Monte

CatInABox wrote: »

An Taisce have a massive hissy fit any time someone even dares to suggest that they want to build a tall building within eyesight of any section of the "Georgian Core" of Dublin, suggesting this thing would have them marching through the streets, throwing their monocles and pocket watches in the air.

Not just An Taisce - there are plenty more of us who care about the city that would be on the barricades! Anyway, just more nonsense which isn't going to happen.

mrblack

ABP & An Taisce! They let houses be built during the boom years in the middle of nowhere, where nobody lives, but stop infrastructure & high rise in the cities where people actually live and need public transport.

Bike riding anoraks without any ambition except to protect the status quo and their D4 southside selfishness.

Del.Monte

mrblack wrote: »

ABP & An Taisce! They let houses be built during the boom years in the middle of nowhere, where nobody lives, but stop infrastructure & high rise in the cities where people actually live and need public transport.

Bike riding anoraks without any ambition except to protect the status quo and their D4 southside selfishness.

Generalisation - much. :rolleyes:

salmocab

Nobody would want this, it’s hideous. Taisce would be very far down the list of anyone objecting to it.

Working class heroes

Build it quick, before Shelbyville get there first.

mrblack

@Del_Monte, defo a bit of a generalisation alright :-) But it seems to me that the political system is biased towards inertia and subcontracts sensitive issues like infrastructure and houses to quangos, who whether by design or through capture by vested interests protect the status quo. How are young people ever going to get a break to buy property if it's restricted to a snail's pace via legal means?

jhenno78

mrblack wrote: »

ABP & An Taisce! They let houses be built during the boom years in the middle of nowhere, where nobody lives, but stop infrastructure & high rise in the cities where people actually live and need public transport.

Bike riding anoraks without any ambition except to protect the status quo and their D4 southside selfishness.

You really think they're in favour of cyclists?!

gctest50

goingnowhere wrote: »

And its plain scary to ride on as it rocks from side to side to a quite alarming level

It's a hundred years old give it a break like

gctest50

Bray Head wrote: »

It's noisy ......

Modern ones are quiet -see video below

Bray Head wrote: »

It would actually need lots of CPO and demolition too

Modern supports aren't much bigger than a phonebox at the base - see video below

Bray Head wrote: »

Dublin doesnt have straight, wide boulevards.
.

The track can bend - see video below

gctest50

Not only that, you could run it up the side of the street and integrate a rain canopy

munchkin_utd

A monorail like in Wuppertal is cool, but an expensive thing to construct and the tracks are fairly intrusive even if they can be installed over streets.

Whats much cheaper is a cable car. Munich city is probably going to install one as a pilot scheme in the coming few years.
The positives are that it requires relatively little work on the ground so is much cheaper than a tram, its independent of road traffic, its driverless and if the route isnt a success, the supports and equipment can be uninstalled and used somewhere else (which is not the case with a standard rail or monorail)
The main negative is that the stretches between intermediate stations need to be straight so in city centres it might be unsuitable, and theres issues about privacy seeing as its a cabin in mid air foating by peoples bedrooms!

Still, as an alternative to Metro west, a cable car from Blanch across the liffey to the south side might be a cheap way of bridging the liffey without needing to build an expensive bridge.

GerardKeating

hobochris wrote: »

It seems it would be ideal given our limited space and reluctance to dig a full underground system like that of other European cities.

Well, the Schwebebahn was built over 100 years ago, and never really expended, which should tell a lot. It's high maintaince, difficult to expand.

But it is cool to ride.

cgcsb

They're quite cool looking, never been on one. But there are many good reasons why the German Empire, the Wiemar Republic, West Germany, East Germany and the current federal republic of Germany have seen fit to not expand the system or replicate it in other cities.