DOI fails again

[hissingsid]

They are trialling a single decker electric bus in the TT period….no words …just no words.    There have been plenty on FB though funnily enough not a lot of support for the idea, in fact none.   Whatever is this circus of a department going to come up with next.

[forestboy]

13 minutes ago, Ativa said:

The minister has explained this in the press only recently.

It’s not as straightforward as just resurfacing a road.  DOI wanted to do the work an treasury pulled the funding.

Now they are making sure that when this major project takes place, which will cause major disruption that the other routes down south are open and in good condition.

So how long do we have to wait??

[asitis]

1 minute ago, hissingsid said:

They are trialling a single decker electric bus in the TT period….no words …just no words.    There have been plenty on FB though funnily enough not a lot of support for the idea, in fact none.   Whatever is this circus of a department going to come up with next.

Ahh yes we haven't spent enough on the bus fleet have we !

[hissingsid]

So now we know why the road tax got hiked so they can get a shiny new bus 🚌.

[Two-lane]

4 hours ago, 2112 said:

By that logic, you may as well stop passengers from bringing carrier bags of food etc, or shopping to and from Ramsey, based on elf n safety. What’s the difference with a parcel and a passenger with a suitcase going up to Ramsey on the electric tram?

My assumption is that if you block the aisle in bus with a suitcase, the driver will have words with you. It is a significant problem with the trams because there is no luggage storage space and luggage in the aisle is a real safety problem, and not a superficial one.

I do not have a clear memory of anyone wanting to bring a suitcase onto the trams when I worked there, but pushchairs were frequently carried - they were tied onto the back of the open trailer with any spare piece of rope that could be found.

God knows where the idea to use vintage trams for general purpose passenger transport comes from. I quite like the trams, and if they just trundle along taking a few enthusiasts that is fine.

The problems will not be clear to an outsider, but as someone who has worked on the trams and has also worked in safety-critical engineering environments, I know there are significant and very real safety problems with these trams.

I believe that what the DoI intends to do will eventually ensure that these problems become very public and there will no way back from that - the  MER will be  shut down or reduced to insignificance.

[I do not want to state anything explicitly - but if you do not look for something you will not find it. If you do look for something you will find it and you will then be required to do something about it.

For example when I worked on the trams, towards the end of one season someone went looking for asbestos - and naturally found it. That caused a panic with trams being taken out of service to stabilise the asbestos. It would have been sensible to wait until the end of the season before looking for it - or not look at all.

What I am alluding to is that I believe that there are things that it would be best not to look for - well, until something serious happens.]

[Itsmeee]

4 hours ago, forestboy said:

Like decent road surfaces away from TT course such as Fairy Bridge to Santon. 

The coast road near Jurby has the best road surface anywhere on the island including the TT course right now. Fuck knows why. Maybe it’s in a minister’s back yard. But I really enjoyed riding it on my motorbike yesterday. 

[CallMeCurious]

3 hours ago, Two-lane said:

My assumption is that if you block the aisle in bus with a suitcase, the driver will have words with you. It is a significant problem with the trams because there is no luggage storage space and luggage in the aisle is a real safety problem, and not a superficial one.

I do not have a clear memory of anyone wanting to bring a suitcase onto the trams when I worked there, but pushchairs were frequently carried - they were tied onto the back of the open trailer with any spare piece of rope that could be found.

God knows where the idea to use vintage trams for general purpose passenger transport comes from. I quite like the trams, and if they just trundle along taking a few enthusiasts that is fine.

The problems will not be clear to an outsider, but as someone who has worked on the trams and has also worked in safety-critical engineering environments, I know there are significant and very real safety problems with these trams.

I believe that what the DoI intends to do will eventually ensure that these problems become very public and there will no way back from that - the  MER will be  shut down or reduced to insignificance.

[I do not want to state anything explicitly - but if you do not look for something you will not find it. If you do look for something you will find it and you will then be required to do something about it.

For example when I worked on the trams, towards the end of one season someone went looking for asbestos - and naturally found it. That caused a panic with trams being taken out of service to stabilise the asbestos. It would have been sensible to wait until the end of the season before looking for it - or not look at all.

What I am alluding to is that I believe that there are things that it would be best not to look for - well, until something serious happens.]

 

[CallMeCurious]

16 minutes ago, Itsmeee said:

The coast road near Jurby has the best road surface anywhere on the island including the TT course right now. Fuck knows why. Maybe it’s in a minister’s back yard. But I really enjoyed riding it on my motorbike yesterday. 

Give it time...

[Non-Believer]

32 minutes ago, Itsmeee said:

The coast road near Jurby has the best road surface anywhere on the island including the TT course right now. Fuck knows why. Maybe it’s in a minister’s back yard. But I really enjoyed riding it on my motorbike yesterday. 

There has been a remarkable amount of work and money devoted to that road in the last 6+ months, from the Lhen bridge right through to Killane, notwithstanding that it was in a hell of a state before. But it's very welcome.

[Ringy Rose]

4 hours ago, hissingsid said:

They are trialling a single decker electric bus in the TT period….no words …just no words.

The electric bus has been here for a couple of weeks. It’s just a Citaro, but an electric one. Hardly worth a meltdown.

[Roger Mexico]

5 hours ago, hissingsid said:

They are trialling a single decker electric bus in the TT period….no words …just no words.    There have been plenty on FB though funnily enough not a lot of support for the idea, in fact none.   Whatever is this circus of a department going to come up with next.

Well if you are trialling something, TT period would seem to be a good time to do it.  It's when the bus system is under maximum pressure, so any new kit will be fully tested.  And as it's only a trial it won't be paid for and be extra to existing stock.

[Roger Mexico]

11 hours ago, Non-Believer said:

As did Douglas-based motor factors to deliver car parts, you could even send a car exhaust up to Ramsey on the tram. It stopped about 30 years ago, risk of trip hazards etc for passengers, from memory.

9 hours ago, 2112 said:

By that logic, you may as well stop passengers from bringing carrier bags of food etc, or shopping to and from Ramsey, based on elf n safety. What’s the difference with a parcel and a passenger with a suitcase going up to Ramsey on the electric tram? If sure people can use common sense? 

9 hours ago, Dirty Buggane said:

You have no idea about the prick's who think/use health and safety, the only thing I admire about the French is there stance to health and safety.

It always amazes my how some people get incredibly indignant about every imagined thing that may or may not have happened.

I suspect the reason the MER stopped being used for freight had more to do with the increase in the number of commercial carriers on the Island and government being unwilling to be competing using a subsidised service.  There probably wasn't enough business to justify it in any case if there wasn't enough to fill a luggage van and in any case the service would have been impractical without a year-round every day service that stopped on the MER in 1998.

(I also remember parcels being sent down on the bus at one time).

[asitis]

7 hours ago, Roger Mexico said:

It always amazes my how some people get incredibly indignant about every imagined thing that may or may not have happened.

I suspect the reason the MER stopped being used for freight had more to do with the increase in the number of commercial carriers on the Island and government being unwilling to be competing using a subsidised service.  There probably wasn't enough business to justify it in any case if there wasn't enough to fill a luggage van and in any case the service would have been impractical without a year-round every day service that stopped on the MER in 1998.

(I also remember parcels being sent down on the bus at one time).

A large number of sensible solutions to practical problems, were lost when we forgot we are a small island with the population of a small town. When the airport became Heathrow on Sea, gearing up for 2.5 million passengers pa, costs rose exponentially, when the administration wanted a large presence on Merseyside, similar happened, when we thought we could support a full service hospital with specialisms we ran into problems, when we wanted a promenade akin to Disney world with victorian attractions running alongside commuters. If we had  been sensible and embraced the past and pragmatic solutions that didn't break the bank, and realised that we were never going to be Singapore, and saw that for the attraction it was, we may not be in the shit we are now ! Oh and when we let recruitment to the administration become the behemoth and millstone it now is, giving the deluded impression that employment is so low on the island and we need a huge machine to administer the other souls residing here. Lastly, when our elected politicians forgot that it is they who supposedly are steering the ship, and not the faceless people, a poor HR department appoints to positions of power, and has largely emasculated Tynwald.

We are going to have to return to pragmatic solutions, make sure the right people are in the right posts who can embrace this, and live happily without continuing to develop their empires to be paid for by a dwindling taxation base.

The island has huge problems and sadly the majority of them are self inflicted !

Edited April 17, 2023 by asitis

[Dirty Buggane]

7 hours ago, Roger Mexico said:

I suspect the reason the MER stopped being used for freight had more to do with the increase in the number of commercial carriers on the Island and government being unwilling to be competing using a subsidised service.

You mean like they were unwilling to destroy the taxi drivers, with there Government run/subsidised bus dial a ride. 😁

[The Voice of Reason]

Do businesses still put parcels on the bus to be delivered to the bus stop nearest to the final destination?