Re: SLR

["Michael Alexander" <malex@bigfoot.com>]

> ... however I did notice the Variotrams took the corners faster
> then Met trams. Running along Hay St was a bit slower than I would have
> expected.

Try standing in the back of a St. Kilda light rail as it turns the corner
from Bourke St. to Spencer St. They often feel like they will come off the
track, the centrifugal force is so great. I get the feeling that once the
driver is around the corner, he/she just goes for it, forgetting that the
rest of the tram has yet to hit the corner.

I also sampled the SLR for the first time last week. On my one return trip
from Central to Wentworth Park the tram ran **extremely** slowly, even on
the reserved track, except for one burst of speed for 100m or so. By slow,
I mean that we were only marginally faster than walking speed. It was
annoying, especially as I only had one hour, before having to rush off and
catch a plane back to Melbourne. The announcements were muttered by the
driver (Surely with all the technology they put in, automatic announcements
would have been feasible). At Wentworth Park, we sat for 5 minutes just
short of the terminus (no other tram in the platform), with no announcement
as to why. A man in a reflective vest wound the points around by hand after
we had reached the platform. The ticket machines at Central and Wentworth
Park were both off-line. I waited for a different tram for the return
journey to Central, hoping for some faster running, but got the same crawl
back. At the depot, some very attractive women in SLR uniforms spent a few
minutes nattering about what shifts they would take, while one was standing
in the tram, and one outside. Consequently, we waited there for ages. The
traffic lights on the street running sections did not seem to alter their
cycle in the presence of a tram; we waited to cross George St. for ages.
Then we *crawled* back up the ramp to Central.

Overall, I was not really impressed. Although the vehicles and
infrastructure were first-class, the staff seemed to be letting the whole
thing down.

Interestingly, I noticed that one both trips all the passengers were either
old (50+) or asians with cameras and baseball caps. So I assume mainly
tourists and nostalgia seekers :-) 

Regards,

Mike Alexander
(malex@bigfoot.com)