Recent content by Freel07

You obviously don't work trains on the Victoria to Huddersfield Line if you think that. Your colleagues regularly have to leave people behind at Ashton travelling into Manchester and at Victoria travelling east. Northerns services are very poor and the standards of train presentation are...

Here here! I suspect there may be an element of 'it's not heavy rail so it's bad' in the comments. I have noticed a rather negative attitude towards light rail in the forum. I was about to recommend SSC as a better forum but then noticed who you were, preaching to the converted springs to mind!

The construction of the Ashton line beyond Droylsden is at least 2 years behind the conversion of the Oldham Line having started earlier this year and probably proceeding faster than the conversion did.

The costs of total track replacement and electrification along with bridge renewals and additional stops all to be carried out in short night time possessions would have been excessive and have taken even longer to complete. It's not just a case of sticking the wires up, there are years of...

ORR Guidance recommends 750 volts DC as the maximum and requires special clearance form the Inspectorate for a higher voltage. Traditional tramways were all nominally 500 volts DC. Blackpool was until very recently 550 volts DC and is now 600 volts DC to cope with the new trams.

Did you notice the mistake in the CENTRO piece about the Birmingham City Centre Extension? In the 2nd paragraph they say that Wolverhampton is already well underway with the scheme..... Doh!:oops::oops:

Blackpool are now lifting the voltage to 600 V DC and all the substations are being upgraded to be capable of simple uprating to 750V DC.

It was propelled one way and towed the other. When propelled there would be a 'driver' in the front cab to operate the trams brakes if necessary. Yes the diesel is passed for use on the Eccles Line, it is regularly used for OLE maintenance across the system.

The only authorised work is the extension on street from Snow Hill to New Street/Stephenson Street.

Yes it did a trip to Eccles and back towed by the diesel loco. that was when the potential derailment risk was identified. The narrower tramway wheel tread was the problem. Metrolink uses a modified railway wheel profile with a fairly wide tread and of course at the time of the trial the San...

The one that went to Queens Road was cut up on site around 2007/8 having been offered to the preservation movement. It wasn't that it derailed so much as the fact the amount of work needed to bring them to the required standards was just too much once the investigations got under way over...

Mods note: moved from http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=51928 Just remember that all the excellent infrastructure you enjoy in France is subsidised to the hilt by the UK via the EU. It doesn't leave much cash to spend on ourselves.

Quite a problem for Ashton passengers who according to you would need to travel east to Stalybridge to get to Manchester!! A quick geography check will show why its a problem.

What it also doesn't say is that Ashton may well lose it's 2 trains an hour as the Huddersfield Manchester stopper could go to Piccadilly leaving only the Stalybridge Liverpool stoppers running through Ashton.

I can't answer question 1 . But the answer to 2 is that relief signallers cover a number of boxes for planned absences etc so it is quite possible that the relief for the affected box is already covering another duty. The simple answer to 3 is the boxes either side. There will be a long block...