Training for Tramlines

[bradleysmith]

Could anyone here advise me of the advantages a tram has over a bus?

 

[gavintc]

If electric power is the benefit, why not fit trolley buses - damn sight cheaper.

 

[Coco]

It gives a massive benefit to shopkeepers...


...in Glasgow

 

[skrx]

Could anyone here advise me of the advantages a tram has over a bus?

- No emissions at the point of use
- Less drivers needed (especially if your system allows coupling trams together at busy times)
- Faster acceleration and braking
- More doors -- faster boarding/alighting times
- A track takes up less space than a bus lane
- Much smoother ride for passengers
- Vehicles are more efficient

Generally, they're much more comfortable to use. Buses seem to bounce the passengers around, especially on rough roads (i.e. any road after it's had a bus route for a while...) but smooth rails and a controlled acceleration by electric motors makes trams much nicer for the passengers.

 

[buddha]

Could anyone here advise me of the advantages a tram has over a bus?

Another 'advantage', that I've noticed, is that traffic lights can be controlled to give priority to trams. Reducing journey times still further.

 

[marinyork]

- No emissions at the point of use
- Less drivers needed (especially if your system allows coupling trams together at busy times) true
- Faster acceleration and braking true, but faster acceleration is rarely realised in real life so I don't regard this as a serious benefit
- More doors -- faster boarding/alighting times unresolved
- A track takes up less space than a bus lane not true
- Much smoother ride for passengers A big benefit
- Vehicles are more efficient

Generally, they're much more comfortable to use. Buses seem to bounce the passengers around, especially on rough roads (i.e. any road after it's had a bus route for a while...) but smooth rails and a controlled acceleration by electric motors makes trams much nicer for the passengers.

They are more comfortable but some of these things lead to flaws, so it is give and take. Although no emissions at the point of use is a huge advantage it is not an entirely fair comparison as bus companies could do a lot more along these lines e.g. brand new hybrid buses. Only a few lucky places seem to have these lines.

 

[gaz]

Trams are only as smooth as the driver.

if the driver brakes late for a stop light, then everyone goes flying. just the same as a bus.

 

[marinyork]

Trams are only as smooth as the driver.

if the driver brakes late for a stop light, then everyone goes flying. just the same as a bus.

It's not a like for like comparison. Trams have large dedicated uninterupted stretches whereas buses do not. Like I said some of these things aren't realised as tram drivers don't floor it otherwise it wouldn't be as smooth.

And they don't have stop lights as such in the same way as bus drivers, not that er bus drivers are known for obeying red lights .

 

[Theseus]

It's not a like for like comparison. Trams have large dedicated uninterupted stretches whereas buses do not. Like I said some of these things aren't realised as tram drivers don't floor it otherwise it wouldn't be as smooth.

And they don't have stop lights as such in the same way as bus drivers, not that er bus drivers are known for obeying red lights .

So, are they allowed to go sailing through traffic lights that are at red?

 

[skrx]

So, are they allowed to go sailing through traffic lights that are at red?

IME (which is entirely outside the UK) sensors in the track (or whatever) will often switch the lights in favour of the tram as it approaches. Trams tend to have separate white traffic lights (see HC rule 300).

"Trams are only as smooth as the driver"
Buses bump up and down on poor road surfaces; trams don't have this problem.

The previous city I visited with trams was part way through replacing the old vehicles with modern ones. One of the benefits of the new trams was faster acceleration, and they were indeed noticeably faster pulling away from a stop compared to the old ones.

 

[gaz]

It's not a like for like comparison. Trams have large dedicated uninterupted stretches whereas buses do not. Like I said some of these things aren't realised as tram drivers don't floor it otherwise it wouldn't be as smooth.

And they don't have stop lights as such in the same way as bus drivers, not that er bus drivers are known for obeying red lights .

Come to Croydon and ride on our trams, the drivers accelerate and brake far to sharply. and your often thrown around the carriage even whilst holding on.

 

[marinyork]

Come to Croydon and ride on our trams, the drivers accelerate and brake far to sharply. and your often thrown around the carriage even whilst holding on.

You get thrown around on the bendy sections a lot holding on here, it's just a lot less worse in other bits.

 

[benborp]

Touching slightly on the comparisons between London and Sheffield, buses and trams and the consequences of heavy braking - when I were a nipper my granny was taking me in to town from Gleadless on the bus. We were sat well towards the back when the bus braked heavily on the hill. I slipped off my seat and slid under the bench seat in front, and the seat in front of that and didn't stop until I hit the front of the bus.

 

[marinyork]

Touching slightly on the comparisons between London and Sheffield, buses and trams and the consequences of heavy braking - when I were a nipper my granny was taking me in to town from Gleadless on the bus. We were sat well towards the back when the bus braked heavily on the hill. I slipped off my seat and slid under the bench seat in front, and the seat in front of that and didn't stop until I hit the front of the bus.

That gives me visions of East Bank Road on a bus or Hagg Hill in a mini bus .

 

[Theseus]

As I was coming home from work on Friday and I had not cycled in I had cause to walk along Princes Street to catch the bus. Just East of the Mound they (TIE or the Council) have put up a sign for cyclists on one of those temporary yellow backgrounds and fixed to a post with zip ties. As far as my memory served it reads

CYCLISTS
Caution, Tram lines now installed

So that makes it all nice and safe for the powers that be as we have been suitably warned.