Very Light Rail stock ordered for passenger trials

[HSTEd]

The trouble with doing that is that it might need ripping out within 20 years to put a tramway down it. That has the same sort of issue in terms of spreading the cost as options like building a north to west curve and having a direct Birmingham service (there is land that could be used to do that, it's not built on).

Is it really likely for the tram to make it out to Stourbridge in our lifetimes though?
I know its good to be optimistic, but if that does happen I think the cost of removing it to obtain a right of way for a tram line would be rather small compared to that overall scheme.

I suspect a lifespan of far longer is necessary to get back the high cost of installing something like that against the savings in only having to pay a cheap security guard to keep an eye on it rather than a railway driver and guard (even if they are a bit cheaper than mainline ones).

I wonder out of interest what the planned lifetime of the sort-of-comparable Luton Airport shuttle thing is?

Probably generally comparable to train hardware, its hard to get good data because these systems are niche enough that a lot end up being dismantled because of redevelopment or the like rather than aging out.
But we are wandering from the topic of the thread here!

 

[zwk500]

The trouble with doing that is that it might need ripping out within 20 years to put a tramway down it. That has the same sort of issue in terms of spreading the cost as options like building a north to west curve and having a direct Birmingham service (there is land that could be used to do that, it's not built on).

A direct curve is not happening ever, and a tramway isn't happening in 20 years let's be honest.

I suspect a lifespan of far longer is necessary to get back the high cost of installing something like that against the savings in only having to pay a cheap security guard to keep an eye on it rather than a railway driver and guard (even if they are a bit cheaper than mainline ones).

A projected lifetime of 20-30 years is pretty usual for any railed public transport system - although people movers are harder to gauge as 1. Few of them are that old and 2. The ones that did get quite far before replacement were usually being dragged out due to local politics.

I expect that the installation and operating costs would compare quite favourably, especially if it lets the line be transferred to Midland Metro in preparation for an eventual tram.

I wonder out of interest what the planned lifetime of the sort-of-comparable Luton Airport shuttle thing is?

Funnily enough, that precise information is redacted from the publicly available Business Case.

 

[LittleRedTrain]

I don't disagree - I merely listed some possible lines where these new very light rail vehicles might be useful. My own preferences would be to use then to re-equip the Stourbridge branch and to re-open the Oswestry-Gobowen line.

My understanding is that National Highways (or whoever the relevant body is), will not allow re-opening the level crossing on the A5 between Oswestry-Gobowen, so any proposed rail service on that route will also require the cost of replacing it with a bridge.
However, that might well be cheaper if it's only built for VLR vehicles which can handle steeper gradients, rather than for 'normal' heritage trains as currently envisaged.

 

[edwin_m]

My understanding is that National Highways (or whoever the relevant body is), will not allow re-opening the level crossing on the A5 between Oswestry-Gobowen, so any proposed rail service on that route will also require the cost of replacing it with a bridge.
However, that might well be cheaper if it's only built for VLR vehicles which can handle steeper gradients, rather than for 'normal' heritage trains as currently envisaged.

If the VLR vehicle has adequate braking, driver visibility, shielding of wheels etc to operate like a tram, then it would technically be a road junction rather than a level crossing, so could be controlled by conventional traffic lights. That may or may not make it more acceptable - I think the road is pretty fast so they may not like traffic lights either.