News & Discussion: Trams

[monotonehell]

It appears that traffic light sequences at KW/Pirie and KW/Hindley Street intersections have been altered to speed up trams. Hoo-bloody-ray. Fix the others while your at it. The city trams are like an excrutiatingly slow turtle, simply due to having last priority at lights

I said it back before this whole tram debacle started... monorail!
There's nothing like a bonafide six car monorail. It would glide over traffic like an ice skater. It wouldn't have to stop at traffic lights!
Sing it with me folks... monorail! monorail! monorail!
Sorry jk but the AdelaideNow mob has spoken!

Mono... d'oh!

monorail.png (244.12 KiB) Viewed 3672 times

[ghs]

Monorails don't seem to be popular. We don't have any in Australia - the one in Sydney closed
down last year. I would imagine that it's a lot cheaper to build a tram line or train line.

[Aidan]

Monorails don't seem to be popular. We don't have any in Australia - the one in Sydney closed
down last year. I would imagine that it's a lot cheaper to build a tram line or train line.

Are you sure we don't have any in Australia? Don't we still have the former Brisbane one that's now on the Gold Coast going nowhere much?

Monorails are generally the best value option for self contained routes that are entirely elevated, but elevated routes are not usually well suited to residential areas. Light rail is far more versatile.

[Nathan]

Monorails biggest problem is *that* Simpsons episode. Even in situations that they would be suitable for, their perception is completely shot.

Is there still one at Sea World?

[ChillyPhilly]

Monorails don't seem to be popular. We don't have any in Australia - the one in Sydney closed
down last year. I would imagine that it's a lot cheaper to build a tram line or train line.

Didn't the Sydney one get sent to Hobart?

[The Scooter Guy]

Monorails don't seem to be popular. We don't have any in Australia - the one in Sydney closed
down last year. I would imagine that it's a lot cheaper to build a tram line or train line.

Didn't the Sydney one get sent to Hobart?

Nope, the Sydney Monorail is nothing but SCRAP METAL!
But we still have two monorails in Queensland though!

[rogue]

Monorails don't seem to be popular. We don't have any in Australia - the one in Sydney closed
down last year. I would imagine that it's a lot cheaper to build a tram line or train line.

Didn't the Sydney one get sent to Hobart?

Nope, the Sydney Monorail is nothing but SCRAP METAL!
But we still have two monorails in Queensland though!

When did the Broadbeach monorail last run?

[pushbutton]

The broadbeach monorail reopened last week, and is free of charge until Australia Day.

That particular monorail system is not so much for transportation as a pleasure ride. There's ample demand for that sort of thing in Queensland.

There's also a monorail system with3 stations in Sea World. That serves a genuine guest transportation need in addition to being fun.

[notmichaeljfox]

State Government confirms parts of tram network to be rebuilt as secret report reveals threat of damage to major power cable
News.com.au, January 02, 2015 12:30AM
ADELAIDE’S $20 million tram extension from Victoria Square to Morphett St is riddled with serious defects that can only be fixed by major reconstruction, it can be revealed.

A secret report commissioned for the State Government last June, and sighted by The Advertiser, details hundreds of faults with the conduits that carry an underground power cable supplying the trams — as well as dozens of errors with other building works on the project.

In a written response to questions yesterday, the Government confirmed that a full reconstruction of all faulty underground works identified in the report would now be undertaken.

The upgrade was approved in 2007 as the first stage of an extension to the Entertainment Centre, but has since been struck by several power outages that stranded commuters.

It can also be revealed the Government launched Supreme Court action against the builder, Coleman Rail, in September 2013 and remains in a protracted legal battle over compensation.

The Government has emphasised there is “currently no impact” on services and some urgent repair works had already been performed from within existing budgets.

More major repairs in the future would not require line closure and would be timed to avoid commuter disruption.

Read the rest at: http://www.news.com.au/national/south-a ... 7173153209

[Llessur2002]

Does anyone know if there has been a change to CBD traffic signal priority for trams recently?

Yesterday I was cycling south along King William Street and and the light turned red ahead of me at the junction of Pirie Street and KWS. I quite often get stopped here and generally the traffic and pedestrian light cycle is pretty regular. From memory, the cycle is KWS, pedestrians, Pirie St.

However, after the pedestrian cycle but before the Pirie St cycle, southbound traffic on KWS was treated to a 5-10ish second burst of green light - enough to let me, two or three cars and a tram through. It then turned red again for the Pirie St cycle to take place (quickly enough for me to notice the light change before I'd reached the other side of the junction).

I've never seen this happen here before - I cycle this route every day, nearly always get stopped at this light, and this is the first time this has happened to me. The only thing I can think of is that a southbound tram pulled up at the red light at the same time I did.

Is there finally some sort of work happening around traffic signal priority for trams in the CBD, or has this always happened and I've just never noticed?

[adelaide transport]

There has been some work going on in the CBD to allow trams to get priority at Traffic Lights.Eventually when it is fully operational it is expected to cut several minutes from the CBD running times.

[Llessur2002]

Cheers for the quick reply!

This is awesome news - I regularly travel on the tram and it's so frustrating that the trip from Greenhill Road to Rundle Mall takes pretty much the same length of time as the trip from Glengowrie to Greenhill Road. This will make life so much better!

[jk1237]

There has been some work going on in the CBD to allow trams to get priority at Traffic Lights.Eventually when it is fully operational it is expected to cut several minutes from the CBD running times.

maybe they should start at the worst intersection, and that is a tram coming from Glenelg, at the corner of South Tce, waiting to go north into K W street. Its excrutiating, and made worse because they let the traffic flow from Peacock Tce/K W Rd heading north into K W Street just before the tram, who then block the tram at the Gilles/Gilbert St corner because they are waiting to turn right into Gilles St. I reckon a 5 year old knows that something is not right with this set up.

Still adamant that DPTI have a weekly meeting on how to make city trams as slow as possible, they're very successful at it too

[adelaide transport]

City traffic lights come under the control of Adelaide City Council not DTPI.

[AG]

Yes, I noticed this as well when I was in Adelaide recently with "override phases" when the trams came to an intersection. Mind you, they don't seem to have got it quite down pat yet like the Gold Coast has with its light rail tram priority signals. Those ones change the lights to green just before the tram arrives rather than when the tram is already there. That has its own downside where the queues on other approaches that cross the tram lines can get rather long.