Low Floor Tram Problems (was: Citadis: Seat Layout)

[Wolfgang Auer <Wolfgang_Auer_9912@gmx.net>]

aus.rail,

David McLoughlin <davemcl@NO***damned***SPAMiprolink.co.nz> wrote:

>> By the way, I should congratulate both Melbourne tram companies on
>> ordering the Combino and Citadis types -- both are among those that I
>> have heard mostly good things about! 
>
>The trouble I foresee with them in Melbourne, Wolfgang, is that they are
>European trams designed for the ridership patterns of European cities.

That certainly is the case, and I don't dare to comment (in
public ;-) on the optimal design of a typical Melbourne tram.
What I wanted to say is that among the existing low-floor
trams, the two future types in Melbourne are not among some,
ummm, far-from-perfect types I rode so far (I was able to take
a ride on great low-floor trams as well...)
 
>> Best regards from Wien (Vienna, Austria),
>> city of the not-too-fortunate Ulf tram type
>
>Is there a problem with the ULF Wolfgang? I thought they were working
>well. There was even a photo of one in a recent T&UT gliding through
>heavy snow with no problems.

Well, this is aus.rail, so let's try to omit the local aspects.
Generally said, the low-floor tram has been a revolution. And
there are especially revolutionary tram designs as well as some
which rather relied on evolution. Some tram manufactors have begun
treating tram construction too much as rocket science. And then,
of course, the disappointment of the transit establishment, that
hardly are everyday transit patrons any more (are they in big
cities somewhere in the world?), is big: "We thought that we
ordered the most modern tram -- why are there soooo many teething
problems? Why do we have to adapt the whole network? Why does it
last that long until the new trams run reliably? And why the hell
is the whole thing sooo expensive?"

There are low-floor trams that are not based on the reinvention
of the wheel, but rather on some very well-proven, off-the-shelf,
no-frills aspects: Not necessarily 100% low-floor (I don't exactly
understand the motivation behind this!), e. g., or bogies rather
than what we call "single wheels". Some of them were ordered,
purchased, put on the tracks, and are reliably operating since.
The Magdeburg/Darmstadt type (then LHB, now Alstom) is among
these, as is the Croydon / Wien (Vienna) T / Köln (Cologne) K4000
(Bombardier) type.

And there are low-floor trams that gave up everything that 
has been well-proven for decades. Everything is reinvented,
nothing has to be taken from former designs. Of course, this
leads to not only a long construction period, but also to an
enormous number of sometimes small, sometimes big problems
that could hardly be taken into account before the first trams
have operated for some thousands of kilometers. Let me quote
an example: The new regulations in Austria require a rear-view
mirror for new trams, something we didn't have here hitherto.
Now it appears so complicated to equip Ulf trams with mirrors
that some 15 trams (if I'm correct) are delivered, but cannot
be operated for about half a year! And then the overall price
tag, sigh... Other cities with similarly revolutionary designs
face similar problems. The otherwisely great trams in Strasbourg,
e. g., have pretty crappy doors, because the designer intended
on the realization of a layout that every technician, even every
passenger could only cry about.

I'm not a conservative person. I just don't understand if
everything well-proven is given up only for having something
new, especially in an environment, where reliability counts.
And the Ulf tram is among those oversophisticated designs --
and it's enormously expensive as well, especially as no other
city has decided to order a similar, let alone the same type.
In my opinion, there are fields for try-and-error research
that are better suited than urban transit.

Best regards from Wien (Vienna, Austria), Wolfgang
-- 
Wolfgang Auer --------------------------------- ohne AUTO doppelt MOBIL
http://qspr03.tuwien.ac.at/~wauer/ --- mailto:wauer@qspr03.tuwien.ac.at