Originally Posted by
Spike
Now that Waterways I would love to see here
The Docklands Light-Railways is ideal, in fact near perfect, for Liverpool and Wirral. The rolling stock can be used all over the Merseyrail network. It is cheap to construct and highly flexible.
The first stage should be replacing the existing, expensive heavy-rail trains for light-rail. Merseyrail rolling stock is up for renewal in a few years time. The light-rail trains have shorter turning curves making them flexible around Liverpool and Wirral Waters and any extensions on the existing network - out of the Waterloo Tunnel and onto the Northern Line is an example. The Wirral Loop tunnel under Liverpool goes through track like wildfire because of the heavy-rail trains. This is more down time. Light-rail has no effect.
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Light-rail is cheaper to run as they use less energy to move and cheaper to maintain. Heavy-rail is for long distance. The short frequent stops of the Merseyrail network means they are overkill - a legacy of the past. Trains rarely hit 50mph on Merseyrail so no need for powerful fast trains, but they need rapid acceleration which electric motors give.
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