Newsbot Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 More than £1m in funding is sought by the Isle of Man tourism minister for repairs to the Manx Electric Railway. Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/...man/6730329.stm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilf_uk Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 I had to actually check the date to make sure this wasn't an April Fool news story. £1 million for 3 miles of track which no-one uses apart from maybe a couple of tourists? Why not spend the £1million on some more buses and actually, wait a minute, why don't we make them cheaper to encourage more people to use them? Another great example of throwing good money after bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desperate Dan Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 IF they are going to spend some money, why not spend a lot so they can upgrade the tracks to take a commuter train. Alter the current trams so they can run too at off peak times on the same tracks. Move the laxey rails so they don't cross over the road and back between ham & Egg terrace and the old laxey garage. Put crossing barriers at other crossing points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeky boy Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 IF they are going to spend some money, why not spend a lot so they can upgrade the tracks to take a commuter train. Alter the current trams so they can run too at off peak times on the same tracks. Move the laxey rails so they don't cross over the road and back between ham & Egg terrace and the old laxey garage. Put crossing barriers at other crossing points. The Manx Electric Railway Society drew up a plan some years ago for a commuter service using modern light railcars. This was to run on upgraded MER track which was exended from Derby Castle along the prom so that commuters & shoppers could be dropped off all the way to the harbour. The service would have been quicker and more comfortable than the bus service, much less congesting than private cars, would free up car parking space in Douglas and left much lighter carbon footprint. Far to sensible, will never happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartT Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 IF they are going to spend some money, why not spend a lot so they can upgrade the tracks to take a commuter train. Alter the current trams so they can run too at off peak times on the same tracks. Its an accepted principle that if you cannot use public transport as cheaply or get to your destination at least as quickly as using your car then people don't bother using it. There is no way you would get people to use commuter trains on this Island as its still too convienient to drive. The Laxey - Ramsey route in particular is a total waste of money. They should have them running up and down Snaefell only from Laxey station as a heritage route and bin the track everywhere else and use the land gained to widen the roads and make them decent. If you took the track up from the whole Baldrine to Douglas stretch through Groudle you'd have a wide dual carriageway totally bypassing the need to drive through Onchan which is terribly blocked most mornings. I smell trolls.... However just to bite, it was actually proved that the Tramways made more money when they ran all the way from Douglas to Ramsey, than when the line was curtailled to just run to Laxey. Personally I'd like to see a toll slapped on the cars of people like you, just to make it prohibitive for you to use them, so you'd be forced into using the much cheaper option of the tramway, perhaps also if a few inconvenience measures could be thrown in (like only blue cars in Douglas on Mondays), then it'd shut you up, or alternatively you'd be singing the praises of the much cheaper & more convenient tramway system saving you the money you'd have to pay in congestion charges...... However if you love driving on Dual Carriageways so much, there's always a boat in the morning...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartT Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 I had to actually check the date to make sure this wasn't an April Fool news story. £1 million for 3 miles of track which no-one uses apart from maybe a couple of tourists? Why not spend the £1million on some more buses and actually, wait a minute, why don't we make them cheaper to encourage more people to use them? Another great example of throwing good money after bad. Well get out of your car and f@cking use the trams and buses, then you won't have to whinge about money being spent on something which "No-one uses apart from maybe a couple of tourisits?" Incidentally just to disprove your comment, I know a number of people who use the trams frequently, who are residents and not tourists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copycat Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 Personally I'd like to see a toll slapped on the cars of people like you, just to make it prohibitive for you to use them, so you'd be forced into using the much cheaper option of the tramway, perhaps also if a few inconvenience measures could be thrown in (like only blue cars in Douglas on Mondays), then it'd shut you up, or alternatively you'd be singing the praises of the much cheaper & more convenient tramway system saving you the money you'd have to pay in congestion charges...... However if you love driving on Dual Carriageways so much, there's always a boat in the morning...... hear hear - as previously discussed on this Forum - about time the Douglas Corpy introduced the Congestion Charge Zone payable by all those who travel in from out of town - £5 per day for entry between 0800 & 09:30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartT Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 Personally I'd like to see a toll slapped on the cars of people like you, just to make it prohibitive for you to use them, so you'd be forced into using the much cheaper option of the tramway, perhaps also if a few inconvenience measures could be thrown in (like only blue cars in Douglas on Mondays), then it'd shut you up, or alternatively you'd be singing the praises of the much cheaper & more convenient tramway system saving you the money you'd have to pay in congestion charges...... However if you love driving on Dual Carriageways so much, there's always a boat in the morning...... hear hear - as previously discussed on this Forum - about time the Douglas Corpy introduced the Congestion Charge Zone payable by all those who travel in from out of town - £5 per day for entry between 0800 & 09:30. I could just see the posts now... "When will the Government rebuild the Peel & Ramsey Railways so we can get to work cheaply and conveniently!!!??!!" and "Typical blood IOM government wasting money on the clogged up and expensive roads, when they should be spending it on the cheaper and more convenient Railway System"!!!..... Sigh if only.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartT Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 Also thought, perhaps if some of these whingers got a residents season ticket, even if they only used the Railways and Tramways at weekends when they'd be more convenient, then pretty soon they'd save money, you'd probably find popularity and increased usage should lead to a better more frequent and possibly faster service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartT Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 But the trams only go to end of the prom, this is where people get lazy. Maybe if the trams ventured all the way into Douglas will people think about using them. And a marketing strategy from the MR Fair enough, a valid point, however should the opportunities for devlopment for the railway systems be looked at further, then I'm sure an extension along the promenade would not be out of the question. Definitely agree about the marketing strategy, I think the current attempts to get people to use the trams were a bit of a farce. Special fares, multi journey savings, etc are a necessity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartT Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 I smell trolls.... Not at all I believe what I posted. I don't see why we should underwrite £1,000,000 on a crappy railway that currently transports a handful of tourists a year. However just to bite, it was actually proved that the Tramways made more money when they ran all the way from Douglas to Ramsey, than when the line was curtailled to just run to Laxey. I'd like to see proof of that. Any way you say made more money not "made a profit" so its irrelevant. Personally I'd like to see a toll slapped on the cars of people like you, just to make it prohibitive for you to use them, so you'd be forced into using the much cheaper option of the tramway, perhaps also if a few inconvenience measures could be thrown in (like only blue cars in Douglas on Mondays), then it'd shut you up, or alternatively you'd be singing the praises of the much cheaper & more convenient tramway system saving you the money you'd have to pay in congestion charges...... Firstly. Its a vote loser. In a country where you can drive anywhere in 15 minutes bringing in these sort of charges to use cars is a guaranteed vote loser. Whoever introduced them would be either laughed out of office or lynched. Secondly. They tried commuter trams last week .. used by a maximum of 3 people and they probably had an unhealthy interest in rolling stock to start with. In fact bringing in a toll would be the manx version of aparthied - all the proles sat on crappy trams whilst all the finance sector boys drive into town in their Porsches and park them where they like. That would be real progress wouldn't it? Re proof of the loss of earning between when the tramway was open all the way to Ramsey and when it only ran to Laxey, this was proved when it was tried in the 60's & 70's - and seeing as the government at that time was far more anti railway, and there was a great rationalisation of the systems plus largescale disposal of unprofitable assets, do you not think they would have also required proof of this, which was obviously provided to their satisfaction? I notice you make little mention of the relative sucess of the experiment upon the steam railways, where there was larger numbers of passengers carried, all this without any special provisions - imagine if there was further incentives provided for people to abandon cars and use the public transport systems??? Re the aparthied systems, the fines could always be means tested - ie make it more unaffordable for those with a greater disposable income.... As for congestion fines being unpopular, I've heard large numbers of people actually espousing them, along with the notion that if public transport was cheaper and more convenient they'd use it. Lots of politicians make unpopular decisions, however when those unpopular decisions prove over the longterm to be the correct ones it does not lose them the support of the voting public. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeky boy Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 But the trams only go to end of the prom, this is where people get lazy. Maybe if the trams ventured all the way into Douglas will people think about using them. And a marketing strategy from the MR There has to be a goood case for extending the MER along the prom where the horse tram track currently runs, then moving the horse tramsout of the traffic onto the seaside footway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalton Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 I like using my car, the trams are far to slow to be of any use for people getting to work and home again. Trams are ok if you have plenty of time on a sunny day to meander and to enjoy the views, sadly most people haven't got the time in there busy schedule to take time out and ride the trams. I therefore vote that they're a burden on the tax payer and should be scrapped. Then you can take the scrap to the scrap man and make some money instead of them costing money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartT Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 But the trams only go to end of the prom, this is where people get lazy. Maybe if the trams ventured all the way into Douglas will people think about using them. And a marketing strategy from the MR There has to be a goood case for extending the MER along the prom where the horse tram track currently runs, then moving the horse tramsout of the traffic onto the seaside footway Actually I would probably not bother with a regular horsetram system - just lay a decent tracks along the prom for the MER with a central reservation right up the middle of the prom roadway (just to make it harder for those car drivers... (could reduce the number of parking spaces too....), then rewheel the horsetrams to run on conventional tram tracks, and run them for special occasions and tourists. Seems silly to have two competing systems. While we're at it we could get rid of any bus service which runs along the prom too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartT Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 I like using my car, the trams are far to slow to be of any use for people getting to work and home again. Trams are ok if you have plenty of time on a sunny day to meander and to enjoy the views, sadly most people haven't got the time in there busy schedule to take time out and ride the trams.I therefore vote that they're a burden on the tax payer and should be scrapped. Then you can take the scrap to the scrap man and make some money instead of them costing money. What's to say without a better expenditure (which could be taken out of increased users paying fares, the road budget and the congestion charges,etc.. heh heh).. that the trams couldn't be run faster??? The whole route could even be redesigned - if we're talking major sucess, you could route the trams through Onchan and down Bray Hill (along a reservation on the main road) onto the Peel Railway line instead of meandering around Derby Castle - that would provide a nice straight route which could be used for faster running. Running it straight along a reservation on the main road in a number of places would reduce the expenditure necessary for road works, provide a straighter less meandering Permanent Way, and faster running. Also reducing the amount of road space for cars, and therefore making it harder for anyone who insists of using their cars to get to work. Imagine the look of glee on the faces of people as they wave from a faster tram at the car drivers stuck in the queues on the single track Ramsey to Douglas Road..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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