http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article27626842.html
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
Every streetcar and light rail car has an emegency handbrake. Aparently, the operator was not trained to use it. Poor operator training can give a black mark to any mode of transit.
Railcars in the street are perfectly safe mixing with automobiles IF THEY ARE EQUIPPED WITH MAGNETIC TRACK BRAKES AND OPERATORS ARE PROPERLY TRAINED!!
I was witness to an almost in Jerusalem, when a cyclist tried and succeded in crossing in front of an LRV. He succeded because magnetic track brakes brought the two-car train to a full stop from about 15mph in about ten feet. My heart was truly in my mouth. An auto could not have done any better.
Lack of training ? Failure to prepare street car for service ? Enough testing ? Thought that some light rail had an emergency brake that pressed on the rails. Wonder if this street car had same ?
More ominous than that. From the Charlotte Observer:
"Charlotte resident Michelle Orr was on the streetcar during the accident with her 2-year-old and 4-year-old children.
Orr said the streetcar had reached the end of its route at Hawthorne Avenue. But instead of stopping to let her and the other passengers off at the platform on Hawthorne, she said the streetcar began “drifting” on Hawthorne back onto Elizabeth Avenue, where it had just traveled.
As the streetcar pulled away from the platform, the streetcar’s driver tried opening the doors multiple times but they wouldn’t work, Orr said.
“It was kind of like he didn’t have control over the trolley car,” she said. “It seemed like the trolley was shut off, and we were coasting down the hill” on Elizabeth Avenue.
“We went through one green light, which was great for us, and the light was red at Kings and Elizabeth, and that's where we hit the SUV.”
The streetcar traveled for about another 200 feet, stopping near the Interstate 277 overpass, Orr said. She said the streetcar had about 15 passengers.
CATS spokeswoman Ashley Elliott declined to comment on what caused the accident."
Charlotte's 4 day old 1 1/2 mile Gold Line Trolley has had it's first personal injury accident. It rear ended an SUV.
I am a believer and supporter of rail mass transit, but it doesn't belong in the road with the rubber tire crowd.
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