Comment by danpalmer

2 days ago

They operate in completely different scenarios. They’re the same shape, but they’re a different set of hardware, constraints, accessibility, need to be scheduled in a different way to account for traffic, different safety concerns, different signalling systems, different distances, different surroundings.

Again I sorta see what you mean, but feel you’re massively over simplifying this.

4 comments

danpalmer

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bombcar  2 days ago

I mean trams basically are street-running trains. The light rail/heavy rail distinction is more one of weight and size than actual issues.

Ceci n'est pas une tram: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kMUANU9H6aw

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber-tyred_metro and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guided_bus also exist.

(For me, the big thing about trams and trains and subways, etc is that the track is a kind of social construct - the track tells me that eventually a vehicle will come for me - no need to really worry about timetables, etc. A bus, a bus may come, maybe it won't. It's all psychoillogical but it's there the same.)

  • TylerE  2 days ago

    The fundamental operational principle is different. Trams operate (typically, on street running sections) on sight - they are responsible for monitoring traffic, and stoping if necessary. Contrast with the block-based approach used for trains, especially in combination with Euro-style positive train control systems.

  • sokka_h2otribe  2 days ago

    Maybe another analogy:

    A tram is a golf cart or ATV A train is a highway bus

    They have different applications and contexts in which they operate, even if they have core similarities