Luas

MadsL

I was walking down Harcourt St today and they are digging up the road for LUAS works. A thought popped into my head...so I asked the guys working...Are you lot putting in any fibre optic with the cabling?

No they said, but we can if you bung us a few quid...I'm starting a whipround...anyone interested?? Bertie, Bertie??

Major infrastructure investment. Internet technology totally absent. Wouldn't it have been nice to whip out the wireless PDA and connect to a screaming 5Mbps or greater wireless node at each tramstop. It counts down the minutes to the next tram. You finish off your email and hop on the tram...

Oh sorry thought I was back in holland...

DadaKopf

Yeah, that's be a smart move for us all but the Irish government isn't reknowned for 'joined up thinking'. I mean, that'd just make too much sense.

The Cigarette Smoking Man

They are actually removing all of the services (gas/esb/telco/water) from under the Luas lines, because they don't want companies digging up the tracks if something goes wrong with them.

MDR

In fairness, I think Luas is a Dublin City Council project,
therefore it would be the council you would accuss of joined up thinking. Fibre is hardily a problem in Dublin, you may have noticed the endless roadworks at the end of the ninties, 34 telcos at once all laying fibre ... we don't need more fibre in Dublin, we have tons of a the stuff and proababily won't for quite some time.

(brief aside- Dublin City Council actually has made capactity on its 170km of fibre that manages its traffic system for available for resale ... cool huh!)

Dublins problem (as with alot of Ireland) is and has always been last mile access never backhaul, weather it cable modems, DSL, 802.11 etc. Whats the point in spending monso laying more dark fibre that won't be used, adding it to the 230,000 km of Irish fibre which is hardily used ?

Tazz T

In the Uk they run a whole load of services along the underground lines - that's all the wires and pipes you see as you're trundling along. It's far cheaper to maintain because you don't have to dig the road up. But that would be far too intelligent for Bertie.

MDR

Again this a Dublin City council matter, who have actually laid 'Conduits' down the some of the main roads of the city (granted only a few 'cos an expensive job). Next time you are going up the old airport road, you will six man holes side by side repeated at 200 metre or so intervals these are the conduits you are talking about .. they run as far as the blanchardstown centre, we also tend to lay our services beside the dart/suburban lines and down dis-used tracks... which also cover quite a bit of the city.

spongebob

Originally posted by Tazz T
In the Uk they run a whole load of services along the underground lines - that's all the wires and pipes you see as you're trundling along. It's far cheaper to maintain because you don't have to dig the road up. But that would be far too intelligent for Bertie.

Last time I looked there were no underground lines in Dublin. Bertie would tell ya the same story if ya asked him.

Tazz T

Isn't the Luas going underground?

MDR

that bit was scrapped was it ?

MadsL

Ray, my point was that there was the opportunity to include internet access as part of the Luas project, the additional cost of providing these free limited range wireless nodes would have been miniscule compared to the rest of the project cost, Hell...they could have even sold advertising on them and MADE money...!

Maybe it would have even been possible to have made internet access available ON the trams..?

infomat

Originally posted by Tazz T
Isn't the Luas going underground?

The LUAS is not going underground.

There is another planned system known as the METRO which will have an underground element if it ever gets past the planning stage (they are talking about having it in action by 2015 or later)

infomat

Originally posted by MadsL
Ray, my point was that there was the opportunity to include internet access as part of the Luas project, the additional cost of providing these free limited range wireless nodes would have been miniscule compared to the rest of the project cost, Hell...they could have even sold advertising on them and MADE money...!

Maybe it would have even been possible to have made internet access available ON the trams..?

I suspect that when the LUAS was planned Internet access was not an issue. To be honest as I am fed up with the noise generated by Mobile Phones on the DART the last thing that I want is to have everyone using laptops, tablet PCs etc. on the trams.

MadsL

the last thing that I want is to have everyone using laptops, tablet PCs etc. on the trams

HA! HA! post that to an IOFFL thread!!! Obvious troll...

Red card for you me bucko!!

MDR

I could just see the headlines now,

'Cost of Luas rockets, trams to include free internet access',
the papers would have a field day ...

what you would see as service improvement for very little investment would be sold by the tabloid media as massive waste of taxpayers money .... seen it far to many times.

MadsL

What if it made money...hang on I might be onto something there...what was it about 3 euro an hour for those Hotspots in DL Ferry port...?

Anyway I hear that the LUAS will not now be running until 2004, and sure we'll all be on 5Mbps by them....:p

LFCFan

Originally posted by infomat
The LUAS is not going underground.

There is another planned system known as the METRO which will have an underground element if it ever gets past the planning stage (they are talking about having it in action by 2015 or later)

When I was buying my house in Tyrrelstown part of the incentive sold by the agents was that fact that the Metro would be running past Tyrrelstown by 2005. Needless to say I didn't buy the house based on this fact alone, otherwise I would have been very disappointed. I laughed when the agent was telling me about this and she tried to re-assure me that it was all gonna be ready.