RotterdamMetroLover wrote: ↑23 May 2017, 16:33
I know what I'm talking about this time. So basically the cabins are staying on the same direction and not otherwise. For example cab A is going to Panbos and cab B goes to Molenwijk. The trams (streetcars)just have a cabin. Some have two cabins and two sets of doors.
These can do a loop, the metro don't (except London at Kennigton Station, but normally they don't). How do I know that? Pretty simple, learn. It's a lot faster if they have two cabins. No extra money to pay for a loop.
Oh, besides London which actually uses the loop for turning the trains at the end of the line, theres other networks like Rijndam that have a big circle line loop in the middle which is also used by other lines that don't go all the way round. Take for example the T-bane in Oslo
We want to concentrate on the lines 4 and 5.
Line 5 is the circle line but after going one loop round it cuts out and shares a section with the line 4. If we would apply a "trains can only couple if they are aligned in the same direction" principle here we would run into a problem. Either the shared section of Lines 4 and 5 they match and can couple or they match on the circle, but no matter on which section they match, there were coupling issues on the other section. This means, if a train has a problem and can't continue driving on its own, the next train can not operate as a pusher if its of the other line, so a loco would have to come from the depot, other trains need to shunt out of the way and in the end the whole line section would be blocked for at least an hour.
To come back to our topic Rijndam:
Well in Rijndam the problem actually is more controllable as the lines M2 and M3 only share a 4 station section with each other on which trains could be differently aligned. If there is no event there is at max one M2 and one M3 train in that in each direction at a time, and depot Bergenseweg where a maintainance loco for rescuing trains could be kept is in reach.
In case of the failing train going towards Westplein beeing the first of the two trains, its really easy because the rescueing loco just has to go back and couple to the faulty train
In case of the failing train going towards Westplein beeing the second of the trains, the first train can clear the line so the rescue loco can get the faulty train.
The only problem can happen if the train is the first of two going towards the loop, because here the second train has to reverse out of the section first to make way for the rescue loco
With the Rijndam 2018 release and SG3 trains operating there soon, are they coupleable no matter the alignment?
Greets, Mika