Recent content by 507 001

The former would be a silly idea IMO, at least through the day. When we run Eccles-Ashton via Media City, Media gets a less reliable service than when we run direct. It’s the first port of call for getting time back if there’s late running.

It doesn’t though…

No, because we don’t drive to the road speed limit signs, we drive to the tramway speed limit signs.

Indeed, I’ve been driving for so long now that I’d find it very difficult to change to KPH as I think in MPH. Certainly in work it would be challenging as I can generally judge the speed I should be going based on my senses without looking at the speedo. Obviously I would get used to it in...

KPH is indeed the standard for new tramways in the UK. Metrolink and Sheffield are the only two using imperial speeds, although certainly in the case of Metrolink it’s only the speed limits done in MPH, everything else is metric. In terms of the trams themselves, the only difference between...

Thankfully, and I’m the first to admit that my fears were very much misplaced, the change to the rules on Metrolink have been an enormous success. We are getting a lot of nice people with nice dogs, and next to no chavs with badly trained big dogs. Honestly, it’s great.

It’s had a TSR on it for a while, but obviously now they believe it needs to be replaced ASAP. It’s not quite on the road crossing, rather it’s alongside the ramp up onto the platforms. 1CC was replaced in its entirety around 2006-2007, so yes it has been.

By design they’re not too bad to hold down, some of them are very heavy though which can get very tiring, very quickly. I’d much prefer a pedal, but it is what it is, another feature of the M5000s that’s far from ideal.

And yet out of the two new stations built to replace Woodlands Rd, Queens Rd is by far and away the quietest.

Imagine what it would be like if it hadn’t closed?

Yes, those are accurate. They are simply a way of abbreviating the station names. They are used for things like reporting of problems in paperwork, and for the signalling system.

Yes, on an M5000 the DSD is part of the TBC (traction/brake controller). It’s quite an old fashioned one (and as discovered at Sandilands, quite an ineffective one) as it requires the TBC to be pushed down at all times. DVD, when fitted, will require the TBC to be moved periodically, if it...

This is a concern I have too. We’re having vigilance fitted to the M5000s in the next few months too. Tram driving is such an intensive task anyway in terms of concentration that I suspect (and as well as this report, some anecdotal evidence I’ve seen from Nottingham suggests I’m right) that...

Yes they’re official :) Not all of those are accurate, but most of them are at least there. When I can get onto my proper computer (rather than my phone) I’ll post a list of corrected ones.

Any additional vehicles will have sections similar in length to the M5000s. Theres not much scope for longer sections, and shorter ones would be problematic.