In article ,
Mizter T wrote:

On Apr 28, 10:46*am, Huge wrote:

You've obviously never waited for a Circle Line train at Monument.


You haven't observed one of the basic rules of the Underground - don't
rely on the Circle line!

Quite! The Circle Line is a practical joke played on tourists. It's
not supposed to be serious!

On Wed, 29 Apr 2009 11:29:36 +0100
"John Rowland" wrote:
Closer to home, Sheffield's tram network has a branch to serve a high-rise
housing estate which was demolished while the tramway was under
construction.
Speaking of underused infrastructure in Sheffield, what happened here?

I bet thats a boy racers paradise at night.

B2003

On 28 Apr, 18:53, Paul Corfield wrote:
Only in Belgium could they spend a fortune on tunnels and then not use
them.

In Manchester they built a series of substantial tram underpasses as
part of the 2002 Commonwealth Games site, but didn't bother building a
tram line to go with them:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ie=...d042f&t=h&z=16
http://tinyurl.com/dhuato

The line has only just got funding. Not far away, on a different
unbuilt branch, they've built this huge lavish elevated station:
http://www.gifford.uk.com/ProjectProfiles.asp?id=28

And a unique finback and surely-very-pretty bridge taking the non-
existent trams over the railway - which I can't find a picture of
because it's invisible from the street. Again, the line has only just
got funding.

Birmingham Moor Street station had its terminus platforms restored
several years ago and there's still no prospect of them being
connected to the main line.

And in London - the Thameslink ECML tunnels are going to have sat
empty for at least 10 years, and Stratford International will likely
never live up to its name.

U

On Apr 29, 10:32*am, wrote:
On Tue, 28 Apr 2009 18:53:08 +0100

Paul Corfield wrote:
Only in Belgium could they spend a fortune on tunnels and then not use
them.

Oh they've done better than that - in Charleroi they built an entire
extension to their pre-metro - station and tracks - and never used it!
A monument to the hubris of local government IMO.

Theres loads of interesting photos knocking about of it though these are
the best:

http://diggelfjoer.swalker.nl/index....sub=abandcharl

An interesting set of photos there - amazing that the alignment is not
shown on local maps!

A very fair example of overdoing it. It's years since I was in
Belgium but I did visit Charleroi and managed to ride the Anderlues
line before it was either abandoned or curtailed - it was certainly
under threat at the time I visited. It starts out on ludicrous
tunnels, loops and viaducts and then becomes a traditional Vicinal
line with the tracks beside the road. The depot at Anderlues was down
a side street. A friend and I then managed to find the preserved
line between Lobbes and Thuin which is lovely. We had the preserved
tram to ourselves and they even stopped the tram in the middle of the
countryside so we could leap off into a field to photograph it
climbing a small hill. Being an English tram loony in Belgium had one
or two advantages.

It was a very small glimpse into what the Vicinal network must have
been like when it was fully operational.

checks urbanrail.net

I see the Anderlues bit is still there but more of it is on the modern
alignment. Looks like some of the tunnels are being reopened but other
chunks will remain closed.


--
Paul C
via Google

On Apr 29, 10:30 am, Joe wrote:
You will have to get fitter :-) I once saw 5 African youths jump over
the barriers. The Parisians just looked at each other and shrugged their
shoulders .

Heh. I was surprised how tall they were - much bigger than anywhere I've
seen befo

http://knol.google.com/k/-/-/2sp607v...tilesinfoticke...

Yes, about a decade ago it used to be utterly routine for people to
jump over the barriers in Paris - a great deal has been done to make
it harder.
Tim

wrote on 29 April 2009 12:26:51 ...
"Richard J." wrote in message
m...
Clive wrote on 28 April 2009 16:42:41 ...

[snip] ........ Paris has stations too close together
and their rubber tyre stock can throw you off balance when braking, like
Ligne 1 at Les Halles, the train brakes, enters the station then
accelerates then brakes suddenly to a halt.

In my experience the acceleration/deceleration of the rubber-tyred trains
is no worse than the Central Line, and your description of arriving at Les
Halles (it's Line 4 by the way) sounds just like the Victoria Line.

A bit OT, I think, but how often are often are Paris Metro drivers required
to manually operate their trains?

Whenever the (timetabled) service interval is more than 4 minutes. They
can optionally drive manually if the intervals are between 2 and 4
minutes, but my impression is that few do so.

I think that the whole system is on ATO.

More or less. Lines 1-9, 11-13 were converted to ATO (using existing
trains) between 1967 and 1979. Trains on lines 10, 3bis and 7bis are
driven manually.

Line 14 certainly is.

Line 14 is computer-controlled ATO, monitored remotely. There are no
drivers or other on-board staff at all.

--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)

Joe wrote on 29 April 2009 10:30:58 ...
You will have to get fitter :-) I once saw 5 African youths jump over
the barriers. The Parisians just looked at each other and shrugged their
shoulders .

Heh. I was surprised how tall they were - much bigger than anywhere I've
seen befo

http://knol.google.com/k/-/-/2sp607v...ticketsmlv.jpg

From the signs, that must be the station for Disneyland, Marne la
Vallée-Chessy station on RER line A, about 20 miles east of Paris. It's
not a Métro station. The RER has ticket gates on entry and exit, and
generally tighter security.
--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)

From the signs, that must be the station for Disneyland, Marne la
Vallée-Chessy station on RER line A, about 20 miles east of Paris. It's
not a Métro station. The RER has ticket gates on entry and exit, and
generally tighter security.

I know, I was just using it as an example of the fact that the ticket
barriers are bigger than what we normally have in GB.

In article ,
(Sarah Brown) wrote:

In article
,
Mizter T wrote:

On Apr 28, 10:46*am, Huge wrote:

You've obviously never waited for a Circle Line train at Monument.

You haven't observed one of the basic rules of the Underground - don't
rely on the Circle line!

Quite! The Circle Line is a practical joke played on tourists. It's
not supposed to be serious!

I think that's a bit harsh. I do take Ian's point that it seems to be at
its most reliable when waiting for a District or Metropolitan train,
though.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

"Richard J." wrote in message
om...

Whenever the (timetabled) service interval is more than 4 minutes. They
can optionally drive manually if the intervals are between 2 and 4
minutes, but my impression is that few do so.

But there is no set time when they are required to manually operate their
trains to stay in practice, as is reportedly the case in Vienna?

More or less. Lines 1-9, 11-13 were converted to ATO (using existing
trains) between 1967 and 1979. Trains on lines 10, 3bis and 7bis are
driven manually.

Not all lines use rubber-tyred wheels either.

Line 14 is computer-controlled ATO, monitored remotely. There are no
drivers or other on-board staff at all.

Oh yes, I know. I've been on it a couple of times -- good speed between
Châtelet and Gare de Lyon.

What is the average speed on the Paris Metro anyway? It can't be very high.