TRAM- Metropolitano de Alicante
Alicante city (Spain), 325.000 inh in municipality, 450.000 inh in urbanized area and almost 1.000.000 inh in metro area.
New undergroung section launched!!
The new line are served by trams and train-trams (100km/h speed), they seem a tram but they got the thrust of a train.
Now in rush hour there are 7 tramways per hour (2 L1, 3 L3 and 2 L4), adding L2 we have 11 tramvays per hour (2 L1, 4 L2, 3 L3 and 2 L4), 15 in rush hour wich means a tramway every 4 minutes in underground section (2 L1, 8 L2, 3 L3 and 2 L4).
Could someone that speaks Spanish explain us the current situation please? I read something that inauguration was cancelled due to some demonstration, but it is not clear whether the line started to operate or did not.
Yes since yesterday is in operation, but before that was closed two years and a half after test the line because there's no money to keep it operative, the government tried to privatice it twice but any company were interested.
Btw, seems like the opening of L2 has proven successful, and that it has become the busiest line in just one day of operation, and its opening has even boosted the ridership of the other lines.
Aand... on the first day, two accidents already!! hno:
It hit a woman (injured, but no life danger), and then some passengers of another tram had to go to hospital after an accident with a car.
Btw, seems like the opening of L2 has proven successful, and that it has become the busiest line in just one day of operation, and its opening has even boosted the ridership of the other lines.
It would be a joke if it didn't, the line serves the main hospital and also the second most important. It also serves the main shopping center and the University.
Are there any plans to extend the system southwards as well? The city still lasts for a while South of the central train station and there are smaller towns along the coast as well.
The new L2 transported 7,615 passengers ont its first full day of operation.
On the day of the opening (with service limited from 14:00 to 23:00) it transported 4,156 passengers.
I can't for my life understand why trams are so underused in Spain. Even the most used systems/lines are pathetic compared to average tram lines in France/Germany/Holland/Poland or even the nordic countries.
I mean, this line goes thrugh VERY dense neighbourhoods. It should have a patronage above 20,000 daily passenger from day one. Normal numbers would be between 30 and 40,000 daily passengers if Alicante was a French city.
And all other tram lines in Bilbao, in Vitoria, in Madrid, In Barcelona and in Seville all have very poor numbers for a modern tram line. I mean, tram baix in barcelona should have triple the numbers of passengers, just look at the tram in Paris and compare.
Another possible explanation: Spanish cities tend do be more dense than other European cities, thus needing less room, and allowing more foot trips.
How about the comparison with Italian and Portuguese trams, btw? You only named France and northern countries, which usually are less dense than Spanish cities (take Paris out of the sentence, alright)...
Some years ago a young woman was interviewed on Spanish public television about how the economic crisis affected her traveling routines. The interviewer asked her if she now that her disposable income had dropped would switch from driving to using the Madrid metro, to which she replied that she would rather stop spending her money on food before she would stop driving (buying gasoline for her car).
I don't think this an isolated case, but rather a common attitude amongs the general population. I think PT should be more promoted as a eco frendly transport alternative in Spain. The attitude is almost like in the USA, unless you drive your own car you are not free and that public transport is for tourists and the poor.
The light rail network in Alicante became Spain's largest on September 4 with the official opening of the city's fourth line, which links the city centre with the university and the nearby town of San Vicente del Raspeig.
Line 2 services share tracks with the three existing lines (1, 3 and 4) on the 1.6 km underground section between Luceros and Museo Arqueologico, where they diverge onto the 7.4 km, 11-station branch to San Vicente.
Even in the US, there are cities where people don't look down on using mass transit and even encourage it. But I agree that the US in general looks down on mass transit for various reasons and doesn't invest much money for maintenance, expansion, improved services etc. I haven't been to Spain, but I think it's ridiculous to compare that country to the US when it comes to mass transit.
Any news on the extension of the underground section from Luceros to the RENFE station?
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