Infrastructure that never happened

Podge_irl · 01-11-2023 10:25pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121312743#Comment_121312743

So yes and no. It is indeed common to have multiple routes available at single stops, however what you don't generally get is interlining in the sense of trains going from e.g. The Point to Phibsboro let's say. If you want to get from the end of one tram line to the end of another you invariably have to change tram.

mikemac2 · 01-11-2023 10:36pm

Ballina & Killaloe bridge between Tipperary and Clare (though Ballina likes to imagine they are in the more wealthy town of Killaloe, looking at you fake address Lakeside Hotel 🙄)

So many years ago and maybe longer there was a plan for a new road bridge and the existing bridge would become a cyclist / pedestrian bridge. A super idea which should have happened 30 years ago but in 2023 we have no progress.

Even local Minister Alan Kelly could not push this through.

A bridge, hell get some students from Univerity of Limerick and it will be superb training for them and have someone experienced oversee it. One bridge is hardly the most difficult project ever

When Ireland had no money and Minister Balfour was handing out money for uneconomical infrastructure there was a railway built between Birdhill and Killaloe. But in 2023 we cannot build a road bridge

gjim · 01-11-2023 10:49pm

Construction of this new bridge (about 1km south of the existing one) and bypass - https://www.clarecoco.ie/services/capital-projects/roads-and-bridges/killaloe-bypass-shannon-bridge-crossing/ - is well underway.

Ronald Binge Redux · 02-11-2023 8:32am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121309481#Comment_121309481

And that would have increased capacity, how? Garret didn't want DART, he tried to scupper Luas. How he is thought of as 'rail enthusiast' in any way beats me. A more personable Sean Barrett.

goingnowhere · 02-11-2023 10:57am

Putting the Luas underground would have got us a German style Stadtbahn system (see Dusseldorf in particular for a city where this is really well done).

Being able to whip along at 70kph underground with no junctions or pedestrians to dodge it would have cut a huge chunk of time off journeys and massively improved reliability

bk · 02-11-2023 2:12pm

In fairness if they had cut and covered the Luas red line under abbey street, it would have solved a variety of problems with the line and other infrastructure.

The maximum capacity of the red line is seriously constrained to the max 40meter long trams due to the distance between road junctions on Abbey Street.

Had they made it a tunnel, they could easily have had 55m trams like the Green line or even longer Metro type vehicles.

Also it would have avoided the issues with the junction at O’Connell St and have had a much faster journey time.

You could then use Abbey Street as Reuther a cycling route or bus only route.

It's common on tram networks in my experience (Dublin doesn't really have a "network" - just two lines that intersect), much less so on metro systems. Recently I used trams (and buses) in Amsterdam and Zurich which both have dense tram networks and most stops seemed to offer you the choice of more than one route.

I know what you mean, I’ve been in plenty of cities like that, in particular all over Eastern Europe. The difference however is that in general they are using much smaller trams. Often the trams aren’t much larger than a bus, so it is more like a bus network with trams going here there and everywhere.

The green line trams are some of the longest and highest capacity trams in the world. The green line is more approaching Metro like operation than these sort of tram networks.

Even in those cities, when they start putting really long modern trams on, they tend to have far less interlining on those routes and run those as more like core fixed routes.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d love for us to have an extensive tram network like these cities. Basically they have trams instead of buses. But I don’t think the interlining model is suitable for how our Luas system is designed.

Sam Russell · 02-11-2023 4:33pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121312367#Comment_121312367

Not necessarily so.

If the traffic warrants it, the trams would be distributed accordingly. So SSG to Heuston might be every 15 mins, while SSG to the point might be every half hour. All other trams to Parnell/Broadstone - for example. At busy mornings, Heuston to SSG might be more frequent that at say midday,

The benefit of a network is it makes routine adjustments possible by reacting to traffic.

Podge_irl · 02-11-2023 5:02pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121315976#Comment_121315976

Or just get people to change trams. Which is how most (almost all?) networks work in reality. It's easier for planning and frankly easier for the user.

Podge_irl · 02-11-2023 5:05pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121314963#Comment_121314963

They also don't do interlining in the way being suggested. They also have end-to-end routes, they just share track for portions of the route. You invariably still need to change trams, you can just do so on the same platform.

KrisW1001 · 03-11-2023 6:11pm

The Munich U-Bahn has an interesting variation, in that it’s mostly three trunk lines with branches, but there are also a few strategic interlined segments that are very short - the sections where lines "cross" are usually only common for one or two stations before diverging again. Follow the path of U2 (dark red) on the map below to see what I mean.