Re: An idea of mine - express trams

["Bradley Torr" <truenorth@one.net.au.SPAMTRAP>]

michael pascoe <michael_pascoe@iprimus.com.au> wrote in article
<3aecf981@news.iprimus.com.au>...
> Why not double the amount of trams and halve the amount of stops.  IE,
Tram
> A stops at EVEN stops and Tram B stops at the ODD.
> 
> Just a silly idea?

But it wouldn't necessarily make the trams faster as a whole. It might
reduce the number of stops per each tram, but consider this.

Tram A is going along Sydney Road citybound in the morning peak. Tram B is
following behind. The stops are numbered  "A1", "B1", "A2", "B2", etc. in
an alternating pattern. Tram A has to stop at Stop A1 to pick up / set down
passengers. Tram B is just behind. While Tram A is stopped at Stop A1, Tram
B is stuck behind it. Tram A1 goes ahead and passes through Stop B1 without
stopping. Tram B then gets to Stop B1 no sooner than if it had been an all
stops tram, because it had to stop at Stop A1 anyway. This game of
cat-and-mouse on the tramways will continue all the way into the City. And
on routes with high frequencies in peak hour, Tram B will present the same
problems to the Tram A behind it, which will hold up the Tram B, and you
won't make any significant time savings compared to if all trams were all
stops (as they are now).

Having a third track for the sole purpose of express trams to overtake the
all-stops trams is probably the best way to make it 'express'.

Regards
BT