Ideas for improving the Nottingham tram network

[jammied98]

Mod note: split from https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/why-are-metrolink-trams-so-slow.168750/

Generally comes down to cost and land availability. In some places there may not be room for a gentler curve while in others the cost would be prohibitive or force an alternate longer route that for example was more obstructive to other traffic or made pedestrian routes unsafe.

Digging up an old conversation here.

I really think Nottingham Council needs to work on acquisition of more land, upgrading and upping speeds, if need be, putting in some points where trams can skip particular stations.

Also could use some bridges and viaducts, starting with one from the station, splitting two separate ways after going over the road. With one split then going down just in time for the next road level station in the Clifton direction and then another spur going down shortly after the major big bend shortly before Meadows Way West. That would significantly up speeds.

The other area that needs to be massively worked upon is the QMC approach from Gregory street, could use an extension of the QMC viaduct going down at Gregory Street to a. help make the turns shallower and b. make the tram less exposed to traffic congestion.

Generally, I think with Nottingham increasingly becoming more important significant investment in the infrastructure to speed up the trams would be very economically prudent.

 

[kevjs]

Digging up an old conversation here.

I really think Nottingham Council needs to work on acquisition of more land, upgrading and upping speeds, if need be, putting in some points where trams can skip particular stations.

Also could use some bridges and viaducts, starting with one from the station, splitting two separate ways after going over the road. With one split then going down just in time for the next road level station in the Clifton direction and then another spur going down shortly after the major big bend shortly before Meadows Way West. That would significantly up speeds.

The other area that needs to be massively worked upon is the QMC approach from Gregory street, could use an extension of the QMC viaduct going down at Gregory Street to a. help make the turns shallower and b. make the tram less exposed to traffic congestion.

Generally, I think with Nottingham increasingly becoming more important significant investment in the infrastructure to speed up the trams would be very economically prudent.

Would it not be far more prudent to actually increase the size of the tram network so more people can use it by going to Gedling, West Bridgford, Sharp Hill, Arnold, HS2, Long Easton, Kimberley etc - rather than acquiring numerous buildings to shave a couple of minutes off an end to end journey at a significant expense and inevitable disruption to the existing service while they rip up the tracks to install the new ones.

If you start skipping stops you'll end up turning a turn up and go service into an every 12/15 minute service making door to door tram journeys slower for anyone going to or from the affected stops, and at times of disruption those effects on the fast and slow lines will be even more exaggerated.

Expand the tram network / improve links with buses, improve the cities cycle networks and you reduce the amount of cars on the streets and therefore reduce delays / can change the road network to minimise them (e.g. make Lenton Lane southbound only over the Railway Line minimising the traffic joining Abbey Bridge Street.

 

[jammied98]

Would it not be far more prudent to actually increase the size of the tram network so more people can use it by going to Gedling, West Bridgford, Sharp Hill, Arnold, HS2, Long Easton, Kimberley etc - rather than acquiring numerous buildings to shave a couple of minutes off an end to end journey at a significant expense and inevitable disruption to the existing service while they rip up the tracks to install the new ones.

If you start skipping stops you'll end up turning a turn up and go service into an every 12/15 minute service making door to door tram journeys slower for anyone going to or from the affected stops, and at times of disruption those effects on the fast and slow lines will be even more exaggerated.

Expand the tram network / improve links with buses, improve the cities cycle networks and you reduce the amount of cars on the streets and therefore reduce delays / can change the road network to minimise them (e.g. make Lenton Lane southbound only over the Railway Line minimising the traffic joining Abbey Bridge Street.

Well, increasing the size of the tram network is fairly desirable too, I would argue though there will come a point where the benefits of its expansion become limited if it is not used to decrease journey times. That been said, I wouldn't suggest hurrying such changes, rather doing when a time comes for network expansion.

I also don't see why at least in the case of commercial buildings, you couldn't actually put the tram over some buildings. When you are trying to get around, longer journey times on public transport are a big constraint and the specific changes I have mentioned could make substantial changes.

I also don't understand on Uni Boulevard, they didn't send the tram down the middle of the road and use that to reduce the crossings across the tram tracks!

 

[HSTEd]

Tram trains to Grantham would be a major boon - and given the Liverpool-Norwich service is being axed anyway the timetabling implications are considerably reduced.

Trams would manage a drastically shorter journey time than the regular rail manages at the moment, and you would probably get explosive traffic growth beyond the de-facto hourly service that is currently provided.
(xx45 and ~xx58 is not a half hourly service in any meaningful sense)

 

[Jozhua]

A fast, open run to Long Eaton seems quite possible, as most of the land inbetween Toton and Long Eaton is empty fields, etc.

The only difficulty is planning around HS2, as the layout of the freight yard is going to change significantly in the coming years.

 

[HSTEd]

SO i've done some reading up and I've come to the conclusion that a tram train with 2.4m width could be engineered with an accessible toilet.
Although such a tram does not currently exist, PRM compliant toilet modules do exist that would fit inside the cabin.

A ~42m tram-train is longer than the current one but because of the position of the doors should be able to fit into the existing platforms as none of them on the core section appear to be blocked in at both ends.
It would likely come up with about 80 seats in a suburban configuration, which is more than an unrefurbed high density Class 153, and has a plan area comparable to a two-car Pacer. (It would be 88 with tip up seats I think)

So small but not ridiculous.

You could put four trains per hour each to Worksop, Newark Castle and Grantham, with extensions to Skegness and Lincoln (4 trams per hour to Lincoln would probably end up requiring a flyover at Newark).
The travel times would be much better than the current units allow because there are not long stretches of running at much above 60mph, and the crazy acceleration of trams would make up for it.

With a branch running out to Derby and Toton via Wilkinson Street tram stop, you could build a regional metro with relatively little expense.

You would connect a south facing chord at Wilkinson Street, and crossovers between the tram line and railway line north of there, and about 1200m of track that goes from the south end of the bridge over the station, loops back under the bridge outside the station and crosses to the railway through the depot east of the station.

Less than a mile of track, some low spec electrification and you are done with a regional metro with 4tph to Lincoln/Newark, 4tph to Derby or Toton, 4tph To Grantham (2 to Skegness) and 4tph to Worksop.
And much of the electrification (Allington to Skeggy, and probably to Worksop) can be simple tram stuff as they are never getting electrified in a month of sundays

 

[Jozhua]

Less than a mile of track, some low spec electrification and you are done with a regional metro with 4tph to Lincoln/Newark, 4tph to Derby or Toton, 4tph To Grantham (2 to Skegness) and 4tph to Worksop.
And much of the electrification (Allington to Skeggy, and probably to Worksop) can be simple tram stuff as they are never getting electrified in a month of sundays

Even if future electrification comes about, I'm sure it's perfectly within capabilities to add the equipment to handle multiple voltages should the need arise in the future!