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Now that I think of it, I really don't know how I could have thought they cross roads even from maps, given that they are third-rail-powered!... So just light-rail, light metro.

*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.
by DoDo on Tue Dec 12th, 2006 at 10:18:35 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Yes, I was just now going to make a comment about the third rail ;-)

Those whom the Gods wish to destroy They first make mad. -- Euripides
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Dec 12th, 2006 at 10:21:59 AM EST
[ Parent ]
A friend of my father's used to work for Spain's national rail company RENFE as an engineer, but 10 to 15 yers ago decided to open a transportation consultancy with a couple of friends. I remember a conversation where he explained that trams were a very hard sell because politicians thought they were old-fashioned, so he said you needed to tell the mayor (or whomever) Lo que usted necesita es un Metro Ligero ("what you need is a Light Metro").

Those whom the Gods wish to destroy They first make mad. -- Euripides
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Dec 12th, 2006 at 10:25:18 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Funny, that was something I wanted to bring up to stormy and R343L, that there is also a marketing level to the use of terminology here. "Light rail" also seems to sound sexier than "trolley/streetcar/tram".

Meanwhile, While the French boom and form design made surface light rail again fashionable with politicians, I note another bad trend: surface light rail and even more light metros are often brought up by politicians instead of heavy metros, as a cost-saving alternative -- which can lead to shiny new lines with insufficient capacity and slow traffic due to jammed streets...

*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.

by DoDo on Tue Dec 12th, 2006 at 10:36:09 AM EST
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