Comparison with Streetcars

"The truth is rarely pure and never simple." (Oscar Wilde)

Anfang treetcars are going through a renaisance in Western Europe and also in the U.S.A. They are making comeback in a new shape; more silent, more comfortable, often interconnected cars and claiming to be faster than their predecessors. Streetcars are often used for radial traffic from the city centrum and out towards suburbs and industrial areas. These routes operate under the same conditions as underground trains; they require rather big passenger flows in order to be economically viable. Across the radial routes to the suburbs, environmentally aware city planners also want to establish tram routes, tying the suburbs together. Those routes form more or less circles around the downtown area. This naturally leads to junctions where people can change between the radial and the circular traffic routes.
It is usually more difficult to get enough travelers on public transport routes between suburbs than it is on radial routes (to and from downtown), and those routes are thus harder to economically motivate.
Streetcar in Stockholm

treetcars are going through a renaisance in Western Europe and also in the U.S.A. They are making comeback in a new shape; more silent, more comfortable, often interconnected cars and claiming to be faster than their predecessors. Streetcars are often used for radial traffic from the city centrum and out towards suburbs and industrial areas. These routes operate under the same conditions as underground trains; they require rather big passenger flows in order to be economically viable.	Across the radial routes to the suburbs, environmentally aware city planners also want to establish tram routes, tying the suburbs together. Those routes form more or less circles around the downtown area. This naturally leads to junctions where people can change between the radial and the circular traffic routes. It is usually more difficult to get enough travelers on public transport routes between suburbs than it is on radial routes (to and from downtown), and those routes are thus harder to economically motivate.

Some facts about Streetcars:
Anfang bout 325 cities in the world have streetcar systems of varying lengths. About 200 of these cities are to be found in the countries of former Eastern Europe and of the Sovjet Union. Western Europe have about 65 cities with streetcars, Asia has 30 and North America about 20 cities.
In Europe, Germany has the largest number of streetcar systems, numbering about 55. In the whole world, there are about 15 000 km. of streetcar rails, and this figure is rising. In Caen, France, Bombardier is building a system where the streetcars travel on rubber tires, and can leave their tracks when necessary. This system will be ready by the year 2000. Matra and Renault are jointly developing a streetcar system where the cars follow 2 PAINTED lines in the street, by means of an electronic tracking beam.
At the same time, statistics shows that tramways everywhere are losing market shares to the road traffic. Also in absolute numbers the number of travelers is decreasing.
New streetcars can appeal to the public for a short time after their introduction, because they have low floors and are more silent. But when the newness of the experience wears off, people return to their cars. Streetcars are a 100-year old technology with small development potential.

Streetcar stop in Stockholm

Streetcar stop in Stockholm

Comparison between Modern Streetcars and Beam Traffic Systems

By just confining ourselves to existing beam traffic systems (such as SIPEM in Dortmund, Germany), we can see the following advantages as compared to modern streetcars:

Lower investment costs, also through less expensive suspension bridges and less expensive tunnels with smaller cross-sections.
Shorter time before becoming operational (about 3 years).
Considerably shorter times between cars for the same operational costs (about 5 times). The travelers' waiting times are considerably reduced.
No barrier effects (wich streetcars in the streets create for all intersecting traffic).
Considerably less noise (even though modern streetcars are rather quiet).
Fewer accidents. Heavy streetcars with low-friction steelwheels are sometimes driven by un-attentional drivers. Statistics bears this out.

Considerably better possibility to detour some beam-carried buses into work- and residential areas. This contributes to larger traffic flows, which help to pay for the investments.
Considerably simpler to expand the beam network to adjoining neighborhoods, wich contributes to making the network increasingly more used by the public.
Automatic driverless control of vehicles makes it possible to maintain a frequent traffic even at nights and during weekends. This might cause many people to opt for getting rid of their cars. Many people have to keep cars precisely because they live at places where public transport does not function well during off-peak hours.
Considerably better development potential when competing with road traffic.
Considerably better potential for future reductions of investment- and operating costs.

Streetcar tunnel in Stockholm

Entrance of streetcar tunnel in Stockholm

A curiosity: The world's longest streetcar route

he longest stretch of interlinked streetcar lines in the world is to be found in the Ruhr-district in Germany. It goes through 8 cities, and is 120 kilometers long, altogether. The various cities along the route have varying width on their tracks, so in order for streetcar lines of one city to travel on the tracks of it's neighbors, there are double sets of rails in some streets, within one another. In Gelsenkirchen, the cars call themselves "Untergrundbahn" and travel in tunnels through the heart of the city. Between Duisburg and Dusseldorf they have restaurant cars in the trainsets. So where does the definition line between "streetcar" and "train" go? For further information about streetcars, check out: Colin Seymour´s Tram Collections.

he longest stretch of interlinked streetcar lines in the world is to be found in the Ruhr-district in Germany. It goes through 8 cities, and is 120 kilometers long, altogether. The various cities along the route have varying width on their tracks, so in order for streetcar lines of one city to travel on the tracks of it's neighbors, there are double sets of rails in some streets, within one another.

In Gelsenkirchen, the cars call themselves "Untergrundbahn" and travel in tunnels through the heart of the city. Between Duisburg and Dusseldorf they have restaurant cars in the trainsets. So where does the definition line between "streetcar" and "train" go?

For further information about streetcars, check out: Colin Seymour´s Tram Collections.

Map of streetcar routes in Ruhr, Germany

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