General Metro Thread

[mikestone]

It is quite clearly the trackbed that is being replaced, the new preformed sections are stacked up in Stephenson Place.and where they had been positioned and there were no rails there appeared to.be some kind of plastic insert

[Gareth]

I was in the city centre for a short time on Monday afternoon, and had an opportunity for a walk around.

From what I could see, the existing rails are going to be reused (you can see them stacked up alongside the works), it looks like it is all the track-bed that has been dug up and is being replaced.

So if there was nothing wrong with the rails themselves, one has to wonder what this is all about really, unless there are questions to be asked about the quality of the concrete track-bed that was originally installed.

They are new rails. They were delivered and stored along the length of corporation Street before works began.

[Ginger66]

Coventry Light Vehicle Rail -  does anyone know are these powered as I thought I read somewhere it was a biofuel product.

If these trams are built in the UK could it be the solution for midland metro and their overhead line issues.

[Tony]

Coventry Light Vehicle Rail -  does anyone know are these powered as I thought I read somewhere it was a biofuel product.

If these trams are built in the UK could it be the solution for midland metro and their overhead line issues.

No. Don't want to go to a carbon fuel, and they are nowhere near large enough for the Midland Metro

[Stu]

They are new rails. They were delivered and stored along the length of corporation Street before works began.

OK fair enough, but when I walked up and down Corporation Street on Monday afternoon, the rails I saw stacked up on the side looked a bit dirty and some had light rust patches on them, so they didn't look 'new' to me, unless they are 'reclaimed' from elsewhere.

[mikestone]

So that's the rails and trackbed weren't fit for purpose then?

[Stevo]

I visited Wolverhampton on Saturday. The rails are now laid in front of the station, curving round and ending in a single line terminus. Trouble is, nobody seems to have told them the station has been rebuilt so tram passengers will ride gently past the new entrance and stop just past where the old entrance was.

[mikestone]

It looks to me as though the platforms will be on the double line, with an empty shunt.
I would have thought the railway inspectorate will take a dim view of that?
.
They are also saving a bit of time after the line opens by repairing the road service on the corner of Pipers Row and Lichfield St now.

[Stevo]

I'd be surprised if the platforms were on a curve.

[mikestone]

It certainly looks like there is a wooden former for laying concrete on the inside of the curve and there are two pairs of doors on what looks to me the outer platform - the first pair lead into the empty retail unit, but I can't for me see where the other set lead.

[Stu]

I'd be surprised if the platforms were on a curve.

Why would it be a problem? There are rail stations which have curved platforms.

[Tony]

Why would it be a problem? There are rail stations which have curved platforms.

I don't believe any new railway stations are allowed to have curved platforms now. One of the main reasons is accessibility, it created a gap between train an platform wheelchair wheels can go down. No platforms on the current tram systems anywhere in the UK are curved.

[Stu]

I don't believe any new railway stations are allowed to have curved platforms now. One of the main reasons is accessibility, it created a gap between train an platform wheelchair wheels can go down. No platforms on the current tram systems anywhere in the UK are curved.

OK fair enough, I guess it also depends on the angle of curve. I was racking my brain trying to remember when I was last at a rail station with a curved platform, then it just hit me that it was at Sandwell & Dudley station. It has quite a long platform but the curve is relatively gentle.

Obviously any kind of sharp curved platform would be out of the question!

[Tony]

OK fair enough, I guess it also depends on the angle of curve. I was racking my brain trying to remember when I was last at a rail station with a curved platform, then it just hit me that it was at Sandwell & Dudley station. It has quite a long platform but the curve is relatively gentle.

Obviously any kind of sharp curved platform would be out of the question!

Platform 12 at New Street is one of the most curved platforms

[mikestone]

The only plans I can find is one from 2013 which shows the platforms just about off the curve and a "proposed turnback" which would accomodate a Pendolino and one on the metro alliance website which shows a couple of blobs which I assume represent platforms roughly where the gap is in the existing track. Perhaps the presence of conductors may have a bearing.
;
I thought I had read somewhere there were to be Birmingham-St. Georges and Merry Hill-Station or vv services but the metro alliance website suggests all Birmingham with "shoppers journeys" turning at St. Georges, so passengers will need to decide whether to head for St. Georges or Pipers Row.