Re: New Melbourne trams have fewer seats than the old ones but they're longer!

[matthew@mail.usyd.edu.au (Matthew Geier)]

In article <399EF8B2.6B26@iprolink.co.nz>,
David McLoughlin  <davemclNOSPAM@iprolink.co.nz> wrote:

>Because the trams have been franchised to a European company which is
>buying the new trams from another European company. The idiots probably
>don't even know that all previous Melbourne trams have been built in
>Melbourne and designed for Melbourne conditions. 

 And that a modern low floor tram design (Sydney's Variotram) was built
in Dandenlong, Victoria already!
 Funny, the Victorian industry can build modern low floor trams. Older designs
have been exported. (Hong Kong), yet the new owners find it cheaper to
buy complete units from Europe. Europen wages can't be much lower than here,
we have the engineering talent and the manufacturing capablity.

 Probably simply a matter of EU politics and stuff the Australians. After the
last few rounds of rail equipment manufacture mergers, Europe is over stocked
with manufactureing capacity, but no company wants to close a plant incase the
local pollies retailiate and order their next batch from their competition
who DIDN'T close a factory in that country. They would rather spend more on
the Melbourne order and keep a European factory open in order to keep the
local Euopean pollies on side for a much larger order than Melbourne could
ever want.

 I also find it stupid that the 2 operators are buying small numbers of
DIFFERENT low floor trams. So over all 2 inventories of foriegn sourced 
spare parts will be needed instead of one common pool.