A while back I was talking about train load standards, which as you’ll recall is 798 per train (or 133 per carriage). Similar desired load standards exist for trams, but they vary much more widely because the tram fleet is much more diverse in size. These are found in volume 2 of the tram contract, ... [More]
Tag: trams
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On the trams
Live — from a tram stop in the Bourke Street Mall The latest in high-contrast, high-resolution semi-permanent destination displays While it looks like it’s good from a tram operations point of view, it’s also not hard to see why people such as Paul Mees see the Melbourne University tram terminus/shunting yard as poor urban design, ... [More]
Happy Australia Day. While I cringe at the “bogan display” in the supermarket selling Australian flag caps, t-shirts, capes, stubby-holders and so on, I quite like the (in comparison understated) flags that have appeared on the trams during the week. My recollection growing up is of small flags in this position on the W-class trams, ... [More]
It’s been a problem for many years: how do you know which tram from the Elizabeth Street (Robert Risson) terminus will leave first? At last, thanks to Tram Tracker (and its clone apps on other platforms, such as Android’s Tram Hunter) there is a solution! Just use one of the apps or the mobile web ... [More]
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Tramspotting: B1 and B2 #gunzel
I think it was Lonely Planet that had an entry about transport in Melbourne that bemoaned the fact they are no longer the traditional wooden trams of olde but instead “pneumatic monsters”. They might have been talking about tram numbers 2001 and 2002. They are B-class trams, but with a difference. These two were the ... [More]
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The multi-lingual rhino poster
I quite like these ads: From what I’ve heard, the campaign was originally quite successful, but started to wear off after a few months, so I guess they need to keep revamping it to continue to get the message across.
While I applaud Yarra Trams’ efforts to put more information on-board trams, this map threw me for a moment. I’m used to seeing east (Box Hill) on the right, and west (Port Melbourne) on the left. This had it the other way around. And before you say it: it wasn’t designed to match the actual ... [More]
Fake icicles on this tram stop, to advertise Mount Buller. I wonder if anybody except me even noticed.
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Tram Cams – do passengers need to DIY?
A few minutes ago in Flinders Lane: It was only on a whim I decided to film as I alighted the tram. The car driver was apologetic, but this ignorance of the law around giving way to passengers has gone on far too long. It’s a serious issue — just last week a girl was ... [More]
Even if you drive a Mercedes, you have to stop for tram passengers. You must stop level with the rear of a tram at a tram stop until the doors close and passengers have cleared the road, you may then proceed but must not exceed 10km/h while passing the tram. — VicRoads Time: about 9:10pm, ... [More]
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The view out the front window
When I was a kid, I liked to kneel on the front seat of the (W-class) tram, looking out the front, and watching the driver, trying to figure out how it all worked. I reckon the front still gives you the best views. Back in the day I recall a control to apply the power, ... [More]
Some people do need reminding that you should let people off before barging on yourself, so it makes sense to put some reminders on the trams. Unfortunately they’re so high up that few people are likely to even notice them. From the looks of it they’ve been placed to be adjacent the internal “rhino” stickers ... [More]