Leeds trolleybus scheme delayed further

LS1 · Post by **LS1** » Fri 14 Jun, 2013 9:23 am

Loiner1960 wrote: I just think this scheme is more 3 Stoogies than some clever policy maker. Just how is traffic supposed to travel across the city centre to Headingley? Transport corridor, more blind alley. Now in the YEP 13/6/13 there is also a report that street lighting will be switched off to save money. Now I seem to remember that the last gas lamps were turned off about the 1970's. So if LCC are unable to afford the leccy bill for the lights, how will they cope with a folley bus leccy bill?Folleybus is DC probably 1000V. That's a rectification from the National Grid AC... So who'll foot the leccy bill when the price rises? Yes you and me in council tax and the passengers in fares. A little overlooked point when the trams were running.They were powered locally, Kirkstall and Stourton and demand wasn't as high so it could be run cheaply with local coal. Now leccy is going to cost a fortune to run 24/7 over miles of twin overhead lines... And it WILL happen because your councillor knows best. Until 2014 when they are unelected.. Theoretically going forward there will be a much heavier reliance on electricity and it should get cheaper over time. Look at Drax, they are becoming biomass and phasing out coal. We have shale gas reserves and also North Sea gas reserves that will mean gas fired power stations will become cheaper. The problem now is how to get it out of the ground for shale, but with Centrica buying a large stake in the northern exploration company it does show something positive and it is feasible. Look at the US and what they do. In general there will be a push to electrification. Think if everyone had an electric car (forget about the demand side management for a minute) charged the amount of energy that would be stored and could be used. If everyone had a solar panel think again how much energy would be generated and how much you would save. Micro-generation is the way forward. A lot cleaner too. After all who wants diesel fumes belching out of buses all the time, it stinks!Trolley bus is a perfect solution, why have dedicated rails for a tram type solution when it's not needed and is very expensive. The best way forward would be to have reserved track/roadway for the trolley bus otherwise it is using the same old roads that are being used already and is not an answer to congestion. The alternative is to introduce electric buses but again they still use the same roads. Surely then dedicated bus lanes overall would be cheaper running electric buses?

Cardiarms · Post by **Cardiarms** » Fri 14 Jun, 2013 1:22 pm

Ideally you could have a bus lane with an electric bus on it.You have the beneifts of a dedicate busr route and a vehicle that can also leave the lane and serve other routes. You don't need to build or maintain the expensive trolley infrastructure. The trolley bus is as limited to a route as a tram on tracks as it has no onboard electricity storage. Batteries are improving all the time as are recharging technologies.

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Fri 14 Jun, 2013 3:20 pm

Brunel wrote: It is one route, Holt Park to Stourton, via City Sq. Cheers Brunel. I had got the impression from what I have read that it was to be 2 separate sections that did not connect, which did seem strange to me, so that it is to be one route does make more sense.

LS1 · Post by **LS1** » Fri 14 Jun, 2013 3:52 pm

Cardiarms wrote: Ideally you could have a bus lane with an electric bus on it.You have the beneifts of a dedicate busr route and a vehicle that can also leave the lane and serve other routes. You don't need to build or maintain the expensive trolley infrastructure. The trolley bus is as limited to a route as a tram on tracks as it has no onboard electricity storage. Batteries are improving all the time as are recharging technologies. Agreed! In other cities, particularly Manchester there was a lot of old railway infrastructure that was utilised for the trams. Leeds unfortunately doesn't have this but does still have a lot of old reserved way that was used for the trams. Roundhay Road, Prince's Ave, York Road, Cross Gates Rd, Easterly Road are a few that spring to mind that have ex reserved way or have the space for it.

Riponian · Post by **Riponian** » Fri 14 Jun, 2013 4:11 pm

[quotenick="LS1"] Cardiarms wrote: Ideally you could have a bus lane with an electric bus on it.Roundhay Road, Prince's Ave, York Road, Cross Gates Rd, Easterly Road are a few that spring to mind that have ex reserved way or have the space for it. Trouble is, the area that supposedly needs this sillybus isn't one that had any reserved way for the trams of old, and so it'll just get stuck in the traffic anyway. If they were going out to the places that previously had tram routes (with the exception of Moortown/Roundhay etc which was one of the busiest) then they could use them. However we've seen the mis-guided busways and their effectiveness, and the answer seems to be a concerted "no" in that respect.In going for this restricted, and quite frankly unwanted, network we deserve getting it turned down yet again for funding. I just wish they'd stop throwing money at it.

Brunel · Post by **Brunel** » Fri 14 Jun, 2013 4:15 pm

Brunel · Post by **Brunel** » Fri 14 Jun, 2013 4:17 pm

Riponian · Post by **Riponian** » Fri 14 Jun, 2013 4:28 pm

QED Brunel - Consistant history of silly schemes from LCC and WYP-whatsit.

Brunel · Post by **Brunel** » Fri 14 Jun, 2013 4:39 pm

Brunel · Post by **Brunel** » Fri 14 Jun, 2013 4:40 pm